Macfarlanes acted for Intu Properties Plc on the acquisition of three shopping centres from Westfield for a consideration of £867.8m. The centres are in Derby, Sprucefield (Northern Ireland) and Merry Hill (West Midlands). In the case of Merry Hill, Intu acquired a 50 per cent interest, with the remaining Merry Hill interest being owned by QIC, an Australian fund. The interests were held in a complex trust/partnership/corporate structure and the firm led on the acquisition of those interests and all underlying real estate.
The transaction was led by Macfarlanes’ head of commercial real estate, Ian Nisse and corporate partner Graham Gibb. It was supported by a firmwide team including: partners Anthony Burnett-Scott and Angus Dawson, senior solicitors Dan Marriott, Nick Barnes and Cate Taylor, solicitors Laurie Fletcher, Kirsty Burrows and Anjana Pathare in real estate; corporate senior solicitor Justin Hope and solicitor Ben Squire; partner Mark Baldwin, senior solicitor Peter Abbott and solicitor Helen Edwards advised on the tax aspects; and partner Alex Amos, senior counsel Alisa Chhoa and solicitor David Gati advised on the funds side.
