Tianan Property Insurance Co., Ltd. recently acquired the land use right of a plot within Shanghai Expo Park after paying RMB1.2bn of land transfer fees. The plot is located in a world-class commercial community housing headquarters of renowned international companies and serving functions for high-end business affairs, conventions and exhibitions with supporting functions for consumption, leisure and entertainment and hotels.

Osborne Clarke has advised Friendship Systems AG on the management buyout together with DNV GL Group.

Friendship Systems is an independent limited company with its seat in Potsdam. The company develops and licenses the software product CAESES, which is used to optimise hulls, ship propellers and turbo-machines. It is the successor to Friendship Systems GmbH, a spin-off of the Technical University of Berlin. At the end of 2008 it became a subsidiary of DNV GL (former known as Germanischer Lloyd).

Slaughter and May advised Puma Energy in connection with its proposed acquisition from Murco Petroleum Limited, a subsidiary of Murphy Oil Corporation, of the Milford Haven facility in Wales, three inland terminals at Westerleigh, Theale and Bedworth and Murco's wholesale and distribution business in the UK.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Companía Logística de Hidrocarburos CLH, S.A. on its acquisition of the Government Pipeline and Storage System, the largest oil distribution network in the UK, from the UK Ministry of Defence for £82 million.
The transaction is expected to complete on 30 April 2015.

White & Case LLP has advised Klépierre, one of the major European players in the retail property market, on its €375 million acquisition of the Plenilunio shopping center in Madrid from an entity 100 percent indirectly owned by Orion European Real Estate Fund III C.V.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of March 2015 under the SOCIMI regime. At 70,000 square metres, Plenilunio is one of the major shopping centers in Madrid, welcoming 10.5 million visitors annually.

The Manchester office of Irwin Mitchell has advised Preston-based Maple Grove Developments on the pre-sale of a 32,000 sq ft office in Blackburn’s Cathedral Quarter to Legal & General Property for £9.1m.

The building at One Cathedral Square has been let to Blackburn with Darwen Council on a 25-year head lease.

The development at One Cathedral Square forms part of the first phase of the £25m Blackburn Cathedral Quarter scheme.

The Frasers Hospitality Group (“Frasers Hospitality”) instructed Watson Farley Williams (“WFW”) to advise on all legal and tax matters regarding its recent acquisition of the former regional finance office (Oberfinanzdirektion) at Rödingsmarkt in Hamburg, Germany. The historic building will be redeveloped into a five-star luxury hotel residence.

Mayer Brown advised Universal-Investment-Gesellschaft mbH on the acquisition of a portfolio with twelve retail properties for a special fund. Netto Marken-Discount is anchor tenant of these properties which have a gross lettable area of around 13,100 sqm and were sold by entities belonging to Marktkauf Holding GmbH, a company of EDEKA group. The properties are located in Germany with a focus on Bavaria and the southern part of eastern Germany.

DLA Piper has advised Market Tech Holdings Limited ("Market Tech"), a holding company that combines real estate assets in Camden and an e-commerce business, on the acquisition of Camden Wharf and the Interchange Building in Camden for £97 million.

Situated on the banks of Regents Canal, with space totaling 115,000 sq ft, the properties are currently let as a mixture of office, retail and leisure units. As part of the deal Market Tech will also acquire the freehold of the iconic Camden Lock market.

Allen & Overy has advised Lone Star on its £1bn acquisition of ‘Project Laser’, a portfolio of UK real estate assets from Moorfield’s first maturing private equity funds.

The transaction was financed with a three-year £593m loan from RBC Capital Markets and Wells Fargo.