King & Wood Mallesons have advised Beijing based China Life Investment Holding Company Limited on the acquisition of a 40% interest in the owning vehicle of 99 Bishopsgate from a Brookfield subsidiary.
China Life is China’s largest insurance company and one of China’s largest institutional investors. The acquisition was made by a subsidiary of China Life which acquired a 40% shareholding in a subsidiary of Brookfield which holds 99 Bishopsgate, a landmark multi-let office building totalling 340,000 sq ft over 26 storeys, with a range of tenant mix including office, retail and leisure. A Middle Eastern investor also acquired 40% of the shares of the target, while Brookfield retained a 20% shareholding of the target.
The deal was made possible owing to King & Wood Mallesons’ unique ability to cover London, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and China under one firm, including in particular the capability to practice PRC law, the ability to provide a 24 hour service and the Beijing office’s long standing relationship with China Life. The combination meant the ability to provide local legal expertise and bilingual Chinese/English speaking partners and associates based on the ground in London and Beijing and first-hand experience in local laws and the ability to understand the differences in market practice between the UK and China.
Yuan Min, Corporate partner in the Beijing office said: “China Life is a long-term client of the firm in China and we were delighted to be able to demonstrate our local depth and global platform to support them as they expand their portfolio of investments offshore. Our ability to cover London, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Beijing under one firm meant we could provide them with a 24 hour bilingual service with both Chinese and English speaking partners and lawyers based on the ground in London and Beijing with first-hand experience in local laws."
Michael Goldberg, Corporate partner in the London office said: “This is one of the biggest investments by a Chinese SOE into the UK’s real estate sector and we are pleased to have been able to leverage our existing relationship with China Life and our strong Real Estate expertise in Europe to facilitate the successful transaction. We expect to see more activity in this space as Chinese appetite for commercial buildings continues to grow.”
Darren Rogers, Real Estate partner in the London office, said: “This is a great example of the way in which our market-leading structured European real estate practice working in tandem with our unrivalled China practice can offer a real difference in transaction management and client experience. We are delighted to have supported China Life in this investment.”
Bryan Pickup, Global Head of Real Estate for King & Wood Mallesons said: “This transaction for China Life illustrates the power of our AQ-Asia Intelligence- strategy using the understanding and relationships of our China partners and the expertise of our European team together to achieve a great result for this key client of the global firm”
King & Wood Mallesons worked on all parts of the transaction, including the complicated joint-venture structuring process by activating a multi-jurisdiction and cross-practice team to support China Life on this significant outbound investment. The team included members of corporate, real estate and tax teams as well as planning and environment, construction and property litigation and was led by partners Michael Goldberg, Darren Rogers, Bryan Pickup and Mike Wang (lead partners in London) and Yuan Min (Beijing); with partners Alexandrine Armstrong-Cerfontaine (Luxembourg), and Richard Mazzochi (Hong Kong).
