International law firm Salans acted as lead counsel to the lenders in respect of the approx. 190 million refinancing of a property financing facility relating to the Nova Eventis Shopping Center in the proximity of Leipzig.
Salans Frankfurt's real estate finance team, led by Salans German banking head Bernhard Gemmel and banking Counsel Tobias von Gostomski, advised the consortium of lenders led by Natixis Zweigniederlassung Deutschland, and also comprising ING Bank, Deutsche Postbank and Bawag P.S.K.
Jebens Mensching's real estate finance team, led by partner Heiko Petzold advised the borrower on all legal and tax aspects in relation to this refinancing transaction. The borrower, who owns Nova Eventis Shopping Centre, is a SPV managed by a joint venture between Stenham Property and Parkdev.
The refinancing of the large scale Nova Eventis shopping center is one of the encouraging examples of successful refinancing of real estate transactions, which originated in the German market in last decades' strong growth phase.
Previously financed by foreign banks, and taken out in the capital markets, the Nova Eventis shopping center has now been financed by a club of continental European credit institutions.
As Salans partner Bernhard Gemmel points out: "In view of the particularly ambitious time schedule and multi-jurisdictional complexity of this refinancing, we are proud to contribute our share in bringing this transaction to successful completion."
For Salans Frankfurt, it has been the first lender counsel financing mandate for Natixis and several other members of this consortium. Salans London has acted as UK counsel to the lenders, with Ogier covering the Guernsey and British Virgin Islands (BVI) law aspects of the transaction.
Jebens Mensching regularly advises Stenham Property and its associated entities in complex real estate transactions, including corporate and tax matters. Berwin Leighton Paisner acted as UK counsel, Appleby as Guernsey counsel and Harneys as BVI counsel to the Sponsor and Borrower.
Source: Salans
