Appleby advises on landmark UK real estate deals

Law firm and fiduciary group Appleby has advised on two of the UK's largest transactions, including one of the largest single-asset transactions in UK real estate history. The deals have been reported as totalling a combined value of £2.5bn.

Lawyers and trust experts based in the firm's Jersey office acted on behalf of Blackstone on the sale of the investment giant's interest in a joint venture with British Land plc, which owns the Broadgate Estate, to Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, GIC. The group has also advised Blackstone on the sale of its beneficial interest in the Chiswick Park Estate to the China Investment Corporation (CIC). Both deals were signed at the end of 2013.

Appleby Real Estate Investment Partner, Andrew Weaver (pictured), and Trust Company Partner Richard Prosser led on the deals, supported by Senior Associate, Simon Tait and other members of the Appleby team.

Andrew Weaver said: “We are excited to be involved in landmark deals like these which are making history in the UK real estate market. They also demonstrate the strength of the UK real estate market and hopefully this bodes well for 2014. The market in London is opening up. It has a good reputation for being transparent and extremely liquid and is one of very few global markets to offer opportunities like this to investors.”