Leading international law firm SJ Berwin has advised British Land on the acquisition of Paddington Central for £470m, further cementing the relationship between the firm and one of its longest standing clients.

Paddington Central is a mixed use office and retail site with a hotel. The site also includes land with planning permission for an additional c. 350,000 sq ft of grade A offices. The estate was developed over the course of a number of years by Aviva and Development Securities.”

Matthew Priday, Real Estate partner at SJ Berwin commented: “This is another significant acquisition for British Land and represents a rare opportunity to secure a large site in the West End.

“The deal was complex and there was a huge amount of information to assimilate. The estate was divided into separate ownership structures for the three different development phases and at any one time there were upwards of 25 lawyers working on the deal.”

Partner Matthew Priday led the team with partner Michael Goldberg leading on the corporate elements.

This is the latest in a long line of transactions by the Real Estate group. Recent highlights include:

    The letting of the iconic Leadenhall Building on behalf of British Land and its joint venture partner Oxford Properties
    SJ Berwin’s reappointment on behalf of the Crown Estate to advise on the regeneration of Regent Street
    The redevelopment of the Shell Centre
    The acquisition of 1 Finsbury Circus on behalf of IREEF, the flagship pan-European core fund of Invesco Real Estate
    Acting for Pushbutton Limited, a major subsidiary of Amazon, in relation to the creation of their new media hub at Glasshouse Yard, London EC2

http://www.sjberwin.com/news/2013/07/15/sj-berwin-advises-british-land-…