Ashurst advises Lendlease on 809m acquisition of city office from Land Securities plc

The City of London office development at 21 Moorfields has been built directly above the new Crossrail Station at Moorgate and is fully pre-let on a 25 year lease to Deutsche Bank which will become its new London headquarters with a target of March 2023 for construction completion.

A multi-disciplinary Ashurst team advised on the joint venture arrangements between Lendlease and its supporting investor consortium,  the acquisition of the corporate wrapper vehicle holding the property, a debt financing facility and ongoing asset and property management arrangements which Lendlease shall be providing.

The Ashurst team was led by real estate partner Richard Vernon and corporate partner Nick Cheshire. They were assisted by counsel Joanne Senior and associate Christos Paphiti (both real estate) and associates Matthew Vine, Florence Fry, Aaron Koh, Arjun Kiri and Juan Casal (all corporate).

The wider team included partner Ruth Harris providing debt  financing advice with support from senior associate Sarah Winter, associate James McKelvie and trainee Ben Hewett. Tax matters were led by partner Nicholas Gardner and assisted by senior associate Sara Mardell and associate Joy Yeh. Planning support was led by partner Claire Dutch and assisted by senior associate Christina Achkarian. Construction advice was handled by partner Ben Patton and senior associate Chris Whitehouse with environment matters supported by partner Eleanor Reeves and senior associate Joanna Fox.

Dispute resolution advice was led by Alison Hardy with regulatory advice led by partner Bradley Rice assisted by senior associate Greg Patton. Competition advice was led by Nigel Parr supported by senior associate Danica Barley. Restructuring aspects were supported by partner Drew Sainsbury, senior associate Maria Staiano-Kolaitis and associate Samantha Ross with commercial advice handled by partner David Futter and senior associate Shehana Cameron-Perera.