Private Capital Real Estate

We help clients navigate a rapidly evolving real estate landscape, combining the legal expertise and market insight needed to help them achieve their commercial ambitions. Our Private Capital Real Estate team understands the pressures and opportunities across both traditional and alternative sectors, in the UK and internationally, and provides tailored advice to unlock value and deliver results.

Drawing on our real estate, corporate, private equity, funds, finance, tax and commercial expertise, we offer a seamless, integrated service. This allows us to shape investment strategies, anticipate regulatory change and safeguard our clients’ interests.

We advise across the full real estate lifecycle, including:

• direct and indirect acquisitions and disposals;
• joint ventures and co-investment arrangements;
• debt and equity financings;
• tax and corporate structuring; and
• fund formation (listed and unlisted).

Our focus areas include:

• investment sources: advising private capital investors throughout the real estate investment lifecycle, including special opportunity transactions, growth and minority stakes, and preferred equity financings;
• operational real estate (OPRE): helping clients assess the specific legal and tax risks of operational assets, and how to structure and access these investments. Explore our report “Fully operational: the future of real assets”; and
• infrastructure: advising across all stages of infrastructure investment in a competitive market.

We work with public and private companies, institutional investors and family offices, guiding them through complex real estate deals without compromising on commercial objectives.

Work highlights include advising:

• Pandox AB on the scheme of arrangement and completion of the c.€1.7bn acquisition of Dalata Hotel Group plc, including on its acquisition finance facilities and on a framework agreement with Pandox’s long-term operating partner, Scandic Hotels Group AB, in relation to the management of the Dalata hotel operating business post completion;
• Aermont’s ACREF V fund on its programmatic joint venture with Sunrise Real Estate for the acquisition and development of logistics facilities in the UK and other key European jurisdictions. The venture is targeting a total portfolio value of c. €1bn;
• Supermarket Income REIT Plc, on its strategic joint venture with funds managed by Blue Owl Capital, a leading US alternative asset manager, seeded with eight supermarkets from its existing portfolio, with an aggregate value in excess of £400m;
• Sadel Group on securing a £500m facility to refinance its cold storage business, Magnavale;
• NatWest Pension Trustee Limited on a 15-year joint venture with financial services company Legal & General. The joint venture will invest £500m of equity to build net zero carbon later living communities which will be developed and operated by Inspired Villages;
• Realstar on the sale of its residential operating platform in the UK and Ireland to its joint venture partner, QuadReal, together with the rights to its UNCLE brand in Europe and the UK (under which a significant proportion of the UK portfolio is operated);
• Dromeus Capital Group, a Greek alternative investment manager, on its joint venture with Apto Partners, a US based data center developer (launched by Pimpco) in connection with the development of a hyperscale data center in Athens;
• Stanhope on its joint venture with Cadillac Fairview and Thomas White Oxford Limited (the development arm of St John’s College of the University of Oxford) to bring forward Oxford North, a £700m global innovation development; and
• Hayfin on its acquisition of notable office building 70 St Mary Axe from Nuveen Real Estate.