Nabarro Nathanson has completed £552m in sale and purchase transactions on behalf of Land Securities (LandSec) over the past month.
The deals included the sale of Bowater House and 30 Gresham Street, the purchase of 42 Southwark Bridge Road and a stake in Times Square.
Nabarro started its four-week marathon at the end of March, after it completed the sale of the Knightsbridge-based Bowater House to a Guernsey property development vehicle for £150m.
The transaction was closely followed by the £95m purchase of a 44.5% stake in Times Square, Queen Victoria Street, EC4. The 378,000 sq ft office block, which was developed, in 2003, in a joint venture between Louis Dreyfus Property Group and Sableknight, is occupied by Mellon Bank and law firm Dechert.
More recently, on 27 April, LandSec confirmed the simultaneous sale of 30 Gresham Street, London EC2, for £274m and the acquisition of 42 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1, from Jersey-based investors for £33m.
The 402,000 sq ft (37,350 m2) Gresham Street building, which was purchased by the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, is the future headquarters of investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein while the Southwark Bridge Road premises is let to Schroders until 2018.
Nabarro partner Nicholas Vergette, who led the firm’s multi-disciplinary team, said: “We are delighted to have successfully completed this series of transactions for Land Securities. This was a real team effort across a number of disciplines.”
Earlier this year, LandSec instructed the Nabarro litigation team in a High Court dispute over the developer’s forthcoming £150m New Street Square redevelopment in London EC4.
Peter Smith J dismissed an application by solicitor Kendall Freeman for an injunction to prevent LandSec from constructing an 18-storey building as part of the office and retail scheme at 11-23 New Fetter Lane, London EC4, but said that Kendall Freeman was entitled to damages for interference with rights to light at its nearby offices.
A damages assessment hearing has been scheduled at the end of this year.
References: EGi Legal News 29/04/05
