News | Finance

Wednesday 1st August 2007

European law firm SJ Berwin LLP has advised one of its key clients, The British Land Company PLC, on the financing by Fortis of the purchase of the Nueva Condomina regional shopping centre and retail park in Murcia for €350 million in a joint venture with the closed-end fund PREF. This transaction confirms British Land/PREF’s position as the largest owner of out-of-town retail parks in Europe.

The deal is reported to be Spain’s biggest single out-of-town retail investment transaction.

British Land is a long-standing client of SJ Berwin.

The SJ Berwin team was led by Finance Partner Gillian Smith and assisted by Associate Paul Beynon.

Commenting on the transaction, Gillian Smith said: “We were delighted to assist British Land and PREF in this key acquisition, the financing for which was put in place very quickly against a backdrop of complex cross border issues.”

Fortis was advised by Allen & Overy.

Linklaters (Madrid and London) advised on the acquisition.

For further information please contact:

Gillian Smith on +44 (0)20 7111 2647, email Gillian.Smith@sjberwin.com  or Amanda Nassar on +44 (0)20 7111 2658, email Amanda.Nassar@sjberwin.com  or Karen Roberts on +44 (0)20 7111 2578, email Karen.Roberts@sjberwin.com  

• SJ Berwin LLP is a full-service international legal practice with more than 550 lawyers across its offices in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Turin.
  
  
• SJ Berwin was created and thrives as a leading-edge legal services business, focusing on the European and international market place. Our clients are sophisticated buyers of legal services, principally entrepreneurial companies and financial institutions, whom we advise on a comprehensive range of services including Corporate Finance, Financial Markets, Commercial, Real Estate, Finance, Reconstruction and Insolvency, Litigation, Employment & Pensions, EU & Competition and Tax.
  
  
• Our approach has resulted in the firm winning a number of recent awards including Corporate Team of the Year - Mid Markets 2007,  European Law Firm of the Year (EVCA) 2007 for the third consecutive year, Private Equity Law Firm of the Year (EVCJ) 2007 for the fourth consecutive year,  Best Law Firm (Fund Formation) 2007 (Private EquityOnline and Private Equity International) for the sixth year running; Competition Team of the Year - Legal Business Awards 2006; Law Firm of the Year 2006 at the EVCA/Real Deals Private Equity Awards for the fourth consecutive year; Fund Formation Team of the Year 2006 - Financial News/Private Equity News Awards; No 1 in Legal Week’s Law Firm Satisfaction Survey 2005; UK Firm of the Year - Legal Week Awards 2005; Real Estate Team of the Year - Legal Business Awards 2005; Real Estate Team of the Year - The Lawyer Awards 2005; Stephen Kon awarded Best Achievement in Copyright Practice at the World Leaders European IP Awards 2005; Jonathan Blake named Global Private Funds Lawyer of the Year by The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers; Jonathan Blake was admitted to The BVCA Hall of Fame, the only adviser to have been.
  
  
• The core Finance Department grew by 45% in 2006, an increase of 85% over the past three years. The department comprises 12 partners and over 40 fee earners. Key bank clients include Bank of Ireland, Bank of Scotland, Barclays Bank plc, Landsbanki Islands h.f., Lehman Brothers, Lloyds TSB Bank plc, NM Rothschild & Sons, Standard Chartered Bank , and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc. The department works closely with other departments within the firm, in particular the Financial Services Group on regulatory and derivatives work, the property finance group in the Real Estate Division and the media finance group. It advises a wide range of banks and other financial institutions, corporates and revenue capitalists. The growth of the finance practice in London is reflected in recent significant expansion in our offices in Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid and Milan, whose practices include both domestic and crossborder financings.
  
  
• On 1 June 2005 SJ Berwin became SJ Berwin LLP, a limited liability partnership www.sjberwin.com 
  
  
• SJ Berwin LLP or an affiliated undertaking has an office in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Turin.