Herbert Smith Freehills LLP (HSF) has advised Dorrington plc on its buyout of Grainger plc's 50% interest in the Walworth Investment Property (WIP) joint venture which comprises a residential investment portfolio of 565 homes in South London. HSF previously advised Dorrington plc on the creation of the WIP joint venture (with Grainger plc) back in 2013.
TLT has advised Southern Housing Group on a large-scale acquisition of more than 500 units from the Hyde Group, located in Woking, Rushmoor, Thurrock, Southend, Hastings, Rother, Wealden and Sevenoaks.
This is Southern Housing Group’s first major stock acquisition since 2015. It complements its existing portfolio across London and the south east of England, and supports the delivery of the Group’s expanded development programme.
Simpson Thacher is representing private equity funds managed by Blackstone in connection with their acquisition of Cirsa Gaming Corporation, S.A. from Mr. Manuel Lao Hernández.
Cirsa is an international gaming operator with bingo halls, casinos, arcades, sports betting kiosks and slot machines in more than 70 countries. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary approvals by the relevant regulatory and antitrust authorities.
Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised ETF Securities Limited on the sale of its specialist commodity Exchange Traded Product (ETP) US business to Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI).
The acquired business has US$2.7 billion of assets under management, and it will further broaden ASI’s suite of investment capabilities. It also provides the platform and expertise to enable ASI to grow its existing Smart Beta capability by launching strategies within the acquired platforms.
A cross-firm Addleshaw Goddard team has successfully completed Cheung Kei Group’s £270 million acquisition and financing of 5 Churchill Place in London’s Canary Wharf. JP Morgan will be the lead tenant at the property, which was purchased from Said Holdings.
The team showcased the AG spirit of innovation to get the deal done, including working with a Korean lender on the provision of mezzanine financing. A UK lender provided the senior debt.
International law firm Ashurst advised BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, on its £95 million loan to Active Assistance, a care provider owned by specialist healthcare fund manager Montreux Capital.
The debt package will enable Active Assistance to finance its pipeline acquisitions for the foreseeable future, which it will seek to purchase with a mixture of equity and debt. Montreux Capital Management, which purchased Active Assistance in January, is planning to use the firm as its latest base for consolidating the UK's private healthcare sector.
Slaughter and May is advising UK Asset Resolution Limited (UKAR) and Bradford & Bingley plc (B&B), working closely with the UKAR legal team, HM Treasury and Treasury Legal Advisers in relation to the disposal, by way of auction, of legacy owner occupied and buy-to-let mortgage assets originated by B&B, its subsidiary, Mortgage Express, GMAC-RFC Limited, Kensington Mortgage Company Limited and Close Brothers Limited to an investor group led by Barclays Bank PLC for a total consideration of £5.3bn.
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Ashurst is advising Interserve on its group refinancing.
Pursuant to the deal agreed with Interserve's lenders, bond providers and the trustee of its pension scheme, new financing arrangements providing cash facilities of £196.6m plus bonding facilities of up to £94.5m will be put in place subject to satisfaction of certain remaining conditions precedent which are expected to be satisfied before 30 April. These new facilities will mature on 30 September 2021.
Sidley represented Cityhold Office Partnership (CHOP), through its asset manager, TH Real Estate, on its joint venture with EDGE Technologies, the office development subsidiary of OVG Real Estate. In connection with the joint venture transaction, Sidley also advised CHOP on the development, acquisition and leasing of the EDGE Olympic office building in Amsterdam (completed April 2018), and of EDGE Grand Central in Berlin (which is due to complete in Q4 2019). EDGE Technologies will retain a minority interest in both assets, and the assets will be managed by TH Real Estate.
A team led by the two Düsseldorf-based partners Dr. Peter Vocke and Dr. Michael Sörgel advised Lange Objektgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and KILA I GmbH & Co. KG on the sale of an inner-city logistics park comprising about 26,000 square meters of usable space in Essen. The buyer is Schroder Real Estate Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH.