Clifford Chance has advised RFR Group on the sale of the "Primus" real estate portfolio to the Austrian Signa Group. The portfolio comprises five high-end retail and office properties and is valued at around EUR 1.5 billion. This makes it the largest real estate transaction in Germany in 2017 to date.

The portfolio properties include the Kaufmannshaus and the Alsterarkaden in Hamburg, the new Upper West in Berlin, the Upper Zeil currently under construction in Frankfurt and the Karstadt building at the main train station in Munich. The portfolio comprises a total lettable area of around 160,000 square metres, including 70,000 square metres of retail space, 17,000 square metres for hotel use and 55,000 square metres of office space.

Completion of the transaction will take place in a number of stages. The complex deal consists of two German law asset deal sales, with another two properties being sold via share deals. The sale of the fifth property involves transferring a 50 percent share to Signa, which already holds the other 50 percent.

Clifford Chance regularly provides legal advice to RFR and most recently advised the company in August 2017 on its acquisition of the Karstadt building in Munich.

The Clifford Chance team comprised partners Dr. Christian Keilich and Thomas Reischauer, associates Manuel Lomb and Jorg Reinshagen, partner Markus Bohn and transaction lawyer Elmostafa Habib (all Real Estate, Frankfurt), partner Thorsten Sauerhering and counsel Dr. Dominik Engl (both Tax, Frankfurt), partner Marc Besen (Brussels/Dusseldorf) and counsel Dr. Dimitri Slobodenjuk (Dusseldorf, both Antitrust), counsel Nele Gorny (Corporate, Frankfurt), partner Katia Gauzes and senior associate Sascha Nolte (both Corporate, Luxembourg), as well as partner Sebastian Maerker and associate Philippa Munnich-Winter (both Finance, Frankfurt).