Advisers benefit as investors target industrial assets
The shift towards global industrial real estate portfolios as an asset class last month saw Clifford Chance (CC) advise newly-formed SEGRO European Logistics Partnership (SELP) on its €472m acquisition of a portfolio of prime development land in Germany, Poland and France from funds managed by Tristan Capital Partners.
The CC team leading the deal included global head of real estate Adrian Levy, alongside London real estate partner Mark Payne and fellow City-based head of real estate tax David Saleh.
CC advised SEGRO on the formation of the SELP joint venture in October 2013, which also involved SEGRO’s sale of an initial portfolio comprised of €974m of logistics assets to the joint venture.
Levy told Legal Business: ‘Investors are looking at spreading risk across geographies. What is also interesting is we’re used to seeing large transactions of commercial properties whether it’s office buildings or hotels, but actually industrial logistics sites are becoming a very popular asset class at the moment.
‘We’re seeing a massive amount of this type of activity in real estate during the first quarter. Capital providers are moving away from traditional instruments and are looking at real estate to fill the gap. Some pension or sovereign wealth funds are really developing a real estate capability and looking to fill that with these types of assets.’
PwC acted for SELP on tax matters, while German-headquartered Gleiss Lutz, Dentons in Poland and Ashurst in France advised on local property law matters. Following the transaction, SELP will contain an estimated €1.5bn of investment assets. Completion is expected in the second quarter of 2014.
Elsewhere, Anglo-German firm Taylor Wessing has leveraged off its private client practice to win a sizeable corporate mandate, with the firm acting on behalf of Lord and Lady Tanlaw and their family trusts on the £130m sale of City-based rail and industrial equipment manufacturer, Fandstan Electric Group, to New York-listed Wabtec. The deal was led by the firm’s corporate and commercial partner Ronald Graham alongside disputes and investigations partner David de Ferrars, tax partner Richard Carson, pensions partner Rosalind Connor, competition partner Robert Vidal, and real estate, planning and environment partner Al Watson.
‘Investors are looking at spreading risk across geographies.’
Adrian Levy, Clifford Chance
Jones Day London and New York M&A partners Leon Ferera and Robert Profusek are advising global technology-based rail and transit group Wabtec on the deal, which sees it buy Fandstan’s operations in the UK, Europe, China, Australia and the US.
Other commercial activity last month included Ashurst’s mandate to advise Crossrail on its decision to award a £1bn contract to the UK arm of Canadian multinational aerospace and transportation company, Bombardier.
Ashurst’s global energy, transport and infrastructure head Mark Elsey and partner Terence van Poortvliet led the team advising Crossrail on the deal, while Bombardier referred much of its in-house legal work to Daniel Desjardins in Canada.
In early February, the Department for Transport said the venture will support over 1,000 jobs and around 100 apprenticeships in the UK, with 65 trains to be built in Derby. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s London energy and infrastructure head Alex Carver and counsel Jason Chamberlain are acting for the Department for Transport on the procurement of the Crossrail project.
DealWatch
HSF and Simmons advise on AO float
A healthy pipeline of London Stock Exchange-listings saw Herbert Smith Freehills equity capital markets partner Chris Haynes, capital markets head Steve Thierbach and corporate partner Mike Flockhart advise online appliances website AO on its proposed initial public offering (IPO), while Simmons & Simmons corporate partner Colin Bole advised the underwriting banks on the deal. The company is reportedly expected to attain market capitalisation of around £1bn.
Davis Polk and Latham advise on $1.7bn ArthroCare buyout
The third-largest M&A deal in the UK this year saw Davis Polk & Wardwell global co-head of M&A George Bason and corporate partner Michael Davis advise LSE-listed Smith & Nephew on its $1.7bn acquisition of Texas-based medical device company ArthroCare. Latham & Watkins Silicon Valley-based corporate partners Michael Hall and Josh Dubofsky advised ArthroCare.
Host of firms advise on Comcast’s £27bn Time Warner Cable acquisition
The mammoth $45.2bn all-stock deal to combine the two biggest cable providers in the US announced in February saw a host of firms, including Davis Polk & Wardwell; Willkie Farr & Gallagher; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison advise on the merger. The deal will create a pay TV and broadband giant with an estimated 30 million subscribers across the country.
Gibson Dunn and Linklaters act on Gulf Marine Services IPO
The IPO of Gulf Marine Services saw Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partners Paul Harter, Richard Ernest and James Barabas secure roles acting as co-counsel to the issuer and selling shareholders, while Linklaters’ Jason Manketo and John Lane acted as co-counsel to the issuer. The joint book runners Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Barclays were advised by Clifford Chance.