Berwin Leighton Paisner has acted for India’s largest real estate developer, Lodha Group (Lodha), on its acquisition of the Canadian High Commission at One Grosvenor Square, for £306m, for residential development.

The acquisition represents Lodha Group’s first foray into the London market. Lodha successfully secured the property against stiff competition from a number of high-profile bidders, including CPC Group, PCP Capital Partners, a consortium fronted by Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau and Fenton Whelan backed by a consortium of investors.

It was a highly confidential bid process, requiring Lodha to exchange binding contracts for the acquisition within 48 hours of its preferred bidder status being confirmed by the Canadian Government.

Real Estate Partner, Deepa Deb, conducted the transaction and commented: “This has been a challenging transaction not least on account of the confidentiality required to be maintained throughout and the timeframe in which it has been undertaken is quite remarkable.  It goes without saying that we are delighted to have worked alongside Lodha on this, its first London transaction.  Despite the complexities and tight timeframe, the transaction went incredibly smoothly and we are very much looking forward to continuing to work with Lodha on the One Grosvenor Square project as it continues to move forward.”

Justin Gaze, Partner at Knight Frank who advised Lodha, also commented: “We were incredibly impressed by the tireless, pragmatic and professional legal advice provided by Deepa Deb of Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP over a highly condensed exchange over a 48 hour period between the Canadian government and the first major overseas development purchase by the Lodha Group.”

Abhishek Lodha, managing director of Lodha said: “We are very happy to work with BLP on this transaction. We find them to be proactive, client focussed, efficient and most importantly, of sound judgement.”

The Canadian Government was advised by Savills and Baker & McKenzie.