DLA Piper represented Shanghai-based Fosun International in its US$725 million acquisition of One Chase Manhattan Plaza in New York from JPMorgan Chase.

The transaction, which closed on December 17, marks the largest purchase of a New York building by a Chinese investor. The 60-story, 2.2 million-square-foot office building was once the headquarters of Chase Manhattan Bank.

The DLA Piper team representing Fosun International was led by real estate partners Stephen Cowan (San Francisco) and Andrew Levy (New York) and senior associate Lillian Duan, head of the Real Estate group in Shanghai. Paul Chen (Silicon Valley) served as lead partner on corporate matters, and other lawyers who advised on the transaction include: Laurie Scola, Jim Hurley, Mark Boxer, Amy Carbins and Rachel Freedberg in San Francisco; Jim Anderson, Spencer Markel, Yang Du, Jose Campos and Janet Dudley in Silicon Valley; John Phelan, Josh Sohn and Dianne LaRocca in New York; Bradley Levy in Chicago; Michael Meyer in Los Angeles; and Harriet Lipkin in Washington, DC.

This year, DLA Piper has represented Fosun International in transactions spanning four different continents and six different industries, including: Fosun Pharma Group, a subsidiary of Fosun International, in its acquisition of Israel-based Alma Lasers; Fosun International in its contemplated acquisition of the French listed company Club Méditerranée; and Fosun International’s US$550 million private equity investment in Peak Reinsurance Holdings Limited, a Bermuda reinsurer with operations in Asia.