Nabarro has advised AXA Real Estate Investment Managers (AXA Real Estate) on the £472m acquisition of Ropemaker Place in the City of London from British Land.

Located near the new Crossrail entrance at Moorgate station, Ropemaker Place is a 20 storey, 602,000 sq ft building, providing 571,000 sq ft of prime office space with supplementary retail and ancillary accommodation. Tenants include Macquarie Bank's London HQ.

AXA Real Estate has made the acquisition on behalf of a European and two Asian investors in a joint venture structured as a UK Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) established under the recently revised UK REIT rules.

The transaction is AXA Real Estate’s second major central London office acquisition on behalf of clients in the past six months – Nabarro also acted for AXA Real Estate on the joint venture between two international investor clients of AXA Real Estate to invest in BNP Paribas’ headquarters at King’s Cross in September 2012.

Indirect Real Estate partner, Amanda Howard, and Real Estate partner, Simon Staite, led the Nabarro team.

Partner Amanda Howard commented:

"It was a complex transaction, with the joint venture structured as a UK REIT; following the recent changes to the UK REIT Regime."

Partner Simon Staite commented:

"The deal shows the continued appetite from international investors for prime central London real estate. This British Land development is very likely to be one of the biggest deals in London in 2013"

Deloitte and Strutt & Parker also advised AXA Real Estate. British Land was advised by SJ Berwin and Jones Lang LaSalle.

http://www.nabarro.com/Media/Nabarro_news/Nabarro_advises_AXA_Real_Esta…