Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Clifford Chance (CC) have advised Blackstone and China Investment Corporation (CIC) respectively, as Blackstone announced the $12.2bn sale of its pan-European logistics company Logicor to CIC.
Simpson Thacher advised real estate investor Blackstone, with a team led by corporate partners Wheatly MacNamara and Adam Signy in London. CC acted for CIC, with global co-head of real estate Adrian Levy and corporate partner Nigel Wellings leading.
Developed through 50 different acquisitions, Logicor owns and operates a portfolio of high-quality logistics assets, totaling 147 million square feet in 17 countries. Over 70% of these are located in the UK, Germany, France and Southern Europe, along the major transport corridors and close to key cities, to follow a shift in demand driven by online sales.
US private equity house Blackstone manages approximately $102bn in investor capital, while CIC is headquartered in Beijing with registered share capital of $200bn.
Clifford Chance’s global co-head of real estate sector Adrian Levy led the team, with support from partners Nigel Wellings, Alis Pay, Catherine Cook, David Saleh and Barry O’Shea.
This March, Simpson Thacher advised on a separate Blackstone and M7 real estate venture to acquire Hansteen’s continental European properties.
Simpson Thacher’s Macnamara also led on Blackstone’s acquisition of the real estate assets of GE Capital, in a deal valued at approximately $23bn, alongside Wells Fargo. She also led when acting on Blackstone’s €6bn acquisition and financing of over six million square feet of logistics assets in Europe. Both deals took place in 2015.
Last December, Simpson Thacher advised Blackstone on the purchase of Solvay’s cigarette filter business Acetow to private equity group Blackstone, for around €1bn.
Equally, in 2012 CC acted for CIC on the purchase of a 10 per cent stake in Heathrow Airport.
Earlier that year, when CIC bought a stake in Thames Water’s parent company Kemble Water, it turned to Linklaters for advice.
The deal is expected to close later this year.
Georgiana.Tudor@legalease.co.uk
