International law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has advised Highbridge Principal Strategies and Urban Exposure on their mezzanine loan to part finance the £400,000,000 development of the Atlas Building on City Road, EC1 into a 40-storey mixed use tower scheme.

The completed scheme will be the tallest building in the area and comprise over 300 flats as well as approximately 90,000 square feet of office space, shops, cafes and restaurants.

Macfarlanes has advised private property development and investment management company Rocket Investments on securing a £240m loan facility to finance the development of The Atlas Building, City Road, London EC1.

The development is due for completion at the end of 2018 and will comprise a mixture of high-end residential, office and retail space.

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank as the Mandated Lead Arrangers on the UAE Dirhams 600 million (US$165 million) Islamic financing of the final phase of the development of Horizon Towers, a mixed-use development in Abu Dhabi.

The 144-acre residential and retail project in City of Lights, Al Reem Island, is being developed by the Tamouh Investments Group and Al Reem Island and will be home to around 27,000 residents when complete in 2017.

Ashurst advised pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (pbb) on the partial refinancing of the real estate portfolio "Phoenix". The portfolio comprises three shopping centres in the whole of Germany which were acquired by affiliated companies of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. in August 2013. Existing loans are redeemed through the new financing. Beyond refinancing, pbb is furthermore granting a loan for reconstruction and maintenance measures of individual Phoenix real estate properties.

Shoosmiths has advised The Royal Bank of Scotland plc on the £4.5million refinancing of student accommodation provider Ziggurat Student Living.

Ashurst advised French bank Societe Generale on the refinancing of a property portfolio comprising 70 retirement and nursing homes in Germany. The new real estate financing in the amount of €545 million replaces existing individual loans which are provided by ten different banks. The portfolio, held by special purpose vehicles of an international investor, is known in the market as "Panacea".

CMS has advised Globe Trade Centre S.A. (GTC) on the financing of Galeria Polnocna in Warsaw - one of the largest investments in Poland’s shopping centre market in recent years. The credit agreement with Bank Pekao S.A. for the construction of the shopping and entertainment centre in the north-east of Warsaw includes a EUR 116 million construction loan and a EUR 150-175 million investment loan.

Cuatrecasas, Goncalves Pereira advised Corpfin Capital Prime Retail II, real estate investment fund, S.A., specializing in commercial real estate, on its flotation on the MAB.

The transaction involved creating a multidisciplinary team in the firm comprising the Finance, Corporate and Commercial, Tax, and Real Estate and Construction Practices that worked together.

Ashurst has advised the leading real estate investment fund manager Gramercy Property Europe (Gramercy) on the acquisition and the financing of 2 retail stores in Germany as well as on the financing of 2 retail stores in the Netherlands. The facilities are leased to, or guaranteed by, Hornbach Baumarkt AG, a leading European retailer of home improvement products.

The properties were acquired for a total purchase cost of approximately €71.5 million and have a weighted average remaining lease term of 9.0 years.

Allen & Overy said today the recent EUR646 million public Logistics UK 2015 and EUR181m REITALY Finance 2015 CMBS transactions mark important steps towards the revival of the CMBS market in Europe.

The Logistics UK 2015 transaction, which closed in August, is backed by a single floating rate loan secured by 42 distribution warehouse properties located throughout the UK and ultimately owned by Logicor Europe Holdings, a portfolio company of The Blackstone Group.