Herbert Smith advises The Carlyle Group on White Tower portfolio acquisition

Posted 27 July 2010 - 4:09pm by WikiJob

Herbert Smith has advised global private equity firm The Carlyle Group (“Carlyle”) on its acquisition of a number of buildings in the White Tower portfolio for £671 million. The acquisition has been made on behalf of Carlyle's third pan-European real estate fund, Carlyle Europe Real Estate Partners III (CEREP III), and this is the first deal that Herbert Smith has advised on for the fund.

Carlyle acquired six landmark central London properties, which were formerly part of the portfolio securing the White Tower 2006-3 CMBS – an Irish-listed, special purpose vehicle owned by Simon Halabi until it was put into administration and managed by CB Richard Ellis Loan Servicing. The properties total in excess of 1.6 million square feet and generate over £62 million in rental incomes each year.
The portfolio acquired by Carlyle comprises:

Alban Gate – An office property located on London Wall in the heart of the City, totalling 382,000 square feet over 22 floors. It is fully let to JP Morgan Chase.
60 Victoria Embankment – 420,000 square feet of mainly office buildings, fully let to JP Morgan Chase.
Ludgate House – A 170,000 square feet office building located on the south bank of the Thames next to Blackfriars Bridge. The property is fully let to United Business Media.
Sampson House – 350,000 square feet of office accommodation. Located on the south bank of the Thames, the office building is fully let to IBM.
Millenium Bridge House – A 200,000 square feet office building located on the north bank of the Thames in the City, which is fully let to UBS.
BSI tower – Located in Chiswick, West London, this office building totalling 140,000 square feet is fully let to BSI Management Systems Ltd.
Simon Price who led the team for Herbert Smith commented:

"This is one of the largest deals that we expect to see in the City for office space this year. The sale of the White Tower Portfolio has been widely reported in the press in recent months and so we are pleased to have been able to assist Carlyle on such a high profile UK acquisition."

Simon was assisted by Of Counsel Iain Carruthers on real estate issues. Simon Chadney led the finance, and specialist corporate and tax advice was provided by partners Neil Warriner and Tim West. Herbert Smith worked closely with a team from Ogiers in Jersey lead by partner Michael Lombardi and associate Richard Daggett in respect of Jersey structuring issues and also with Babbe legal's partner Stuart Tyler on Guernsey law issues.

CBRE was advised by Berwin Leighton Paisner and Paul Hastings. Allen and Overy acted for the lending banks. Arendt and Medernach advised on Luxembourg law and Pricewaterhouse Cooper on tax.

Herbert Smith LLP is an international legal practice with 1400 lawyers (including over 270 partners) and a network of offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has a formal alliance with leading German firm Gleiss Lutz and leading Dutch and Belgian firm Stibbe. www.herbertsmith.com
For further information please contact Sarah Robertson in the communications team on +44 (0)20 7466 3139 or sarah.robertson@herbertsmith.com