Greenberg Traurig has represented Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust, acting through its subsidiaries, on the acquisition of 16 predominantly freehold office properties in Poland, the Netherlands, and Finland. The sellers, reportedly represented by White & Case in London and Finland and Wolf Theiss in Warsaw, were entities related to Goldman Sachs. Allen & Overy reportedly acted as a legal counsel to the financing banks.
The total purchase consideration for the portfolio is EUR 324 million.
The acquisition was financed through both underwritten and renounceable rights issue on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited, announced on October 30, 2018, and debt financing provided by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banked Ab, Frankfurt Branch, and Societe Generale S.A., Frankfurt Branch.
According to GT, the transaction is expected to increase Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust’s total portfolio value from approximately EUR 1.4 billion to EUR 1.8 billion, enhancing the size, scale, and diversification of the portfolio and providing access to new markets in Finland and Poland, as well as strengthening the trust's position in the Dutch office markets.
The GT team was led by London-based Partner Sarah Moyles and included Associates Emma Bosworth and Dan Woolston, both in London. The team in Warsaw consisted of Partner Radomil Charzynski, Senior Associate Karolina Olko, and Associates Milena Medrzycka, Maxymilian Rybczynski, and Jakub Gajzler. The team in Amsterdam involved Partners Jan Kees Brandse and Paul Westhoff and Associates Jeroen van den Hamer, Radboud de Wit, and Suzanne Walstra.
Editor’s Note: After the article was published, Wolf Theiss confirmed that it advised the sellers on the deal. The Wolf Theiss team was led by Counsel Grzegorz Skowroński and included Senior Associate Anna Sekowska and Associates Bartosz Kopik and Anna Mikolajewska-Jelitto.
