News | Real Estate

Monday 10th July 2006

Corporate and commercial law firm SJ Berwin LLP's Paris real estate team has advised American fund AMB Property L.P. on the acquisition of a portfolio of 18 properties in the Paris region from Sirius, the French development company.  The purchase price was around Euro 79 million.  The buildings total 76,000 sq m and are 97% let to tenants such as DHL, Hitachi, Newell Rubbermaid, Ysen Global Logistics and Gate Gourmet.

The SJ Berwin team was led by Paris real estate partner Ann Ly Ky, assisted by Sarah Kreplak, William Robert and Cèline Ogee, with Patrick Guarda advising on the tax aspects.

Sirius was advised by partners Emmanuel Fatome and  Emmanuel Chauve from De Pardieu Brocas Maffei, assisted by Paul Henri de Cabissole.

Ann Ly Ky commented, "This is our second major deal for AMB and following on from our deal for Matrix announced last week, is a sure sign that the real estate capacity of our Paris office is really gaining momentum."

The team has been named as "one of the rising real estate teams in Paris" by Decideurs Juridiques / Real Estate edition 2006.

• On 1 June 2005 SJ Berwin LLP, an English limited liability partnership, took over the business of the SJ Berwin general partnership.  SJ Berwin LLP or an affiliated undertaking has an office in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich and Paris.
• SJ Berwin LLP was named 'UK Firm of the Year' at the 2005 Legal Week Awards .  The award recognised SJ Berwin’s five years of international expansion and its involvement in a series of high quality deals.
• SJ Berwin's Real Estate Division totals 118 staff of which 21 are partners in London and 50 associates, encompassing the disciplines of Commercial Real Estate, Construction, Planning & Environment, Property Litigation and Real Estate Funds.  In addition, there are 3 dedicated real estate tax partners and 1 dedicated real estate partner in Paris.  There is an increasing emphasis on cross firm activity with related areas of Banking and Corporate and with the international offices.  The division acts for blue chip clients including British Land, Royal Bank of Scotland, the Hilton Group, Brixton plc, AXA, The Crown Estate, Marks & Spencer and Gazeley.
• The Real Estate Team is Legal Business Real Estate Team of the Year 2005.  It was also named "Real Estate Team of the Year" in the Lawyer Magazine Awards 2004, following its advice on the RBS/Canary Wharf transaction the highest-value property investment transaction in the UK in 2004.
• Revenue from Real Estate represents approximately 21% of the firm's total revenue in London.