Property bonanza for Wragge as real estate teams finish two deals
Jul 29 2010 by Tom Scotney, Birmingham Post
Property lawyers at Wragge & Co are celebrating the completion of two high-profile Midland deals.
The Birmingham law firm advised E.ON on the deal behind its new £30 million office in Nottingham. And it also worked with Birmingham development outfit Argent on the £190 million sale of eight buildings in Brindleyplace to an American investor.
The Brindleyplace deal – made by a consortium of real estate investor, developer and manager Hines and private equity investor Moorfield Group – is the largest ever completed in Birmingham’s office investment market. Wragge will work with both companies on the legal aspects of the management of their new estate.
Partner John Burns led a cross-firm team on the deal, working closely with the Argent team including director Gary Taylor and project director Ian Clark. Wragge represented the Brindleyplace Limited Partnership – a group of investors including the British Telecom Pension Scheme, Royal Mail Pension Plan, and a group of private investors as well as Argent.
Mr Burns said: “This is a very significant transaction for all concerned and we are proud to have been a part of the team in making it happen. The fact that respected companies like Hines and Moorfield choose to invest in Birmingham is an endorsement both of the city’s and the regional economy, as well as the success of Brindleyplace generally.”
Meanwhile the advisory work on the deal involving energy company E.ON saw Wragge involved in one of the biggest property deals in Nottingham of recent times.
Nottingham City Council agreed to sell its former Treasury Building offices to developer Miller Birch, which will demolish them and build a nine storey state-of the-art, environmentally sustainable office, which will be leased to E.ON.
When complete in 2012, the building will be home to 800 Nottingham-based E.ON employees.
The deal was led by Wragge real estate partner Jack Jacovou, who said: “This is an excellent project to have been involved in - a large, complex property transaction for a longstanding and valued client. The new office will provide E.ON employees with superb accommodation and the greenest building in the city.”
