DLA Piper advises on Goldman Sachs building sale in London

International law firm DLA Piper has announced it advised Jones Lang LaSalle on the sale of Peterborough Court and Daniel House on Fleet Street in London. JLL, acting as receiver, arranged the sale of the buildings to restructure £450 mln (EUR 572 mln) of debt. The buildings are leased to investment bank Goldman Sachs.

It is understood the buildings, which make up part of Goldman Sachs' London headquarters, were purchased by a subsidiary of Qatari Investment Authority for around £300 mln. Jones Lang LaSalle declined to comment on the transaction.

Peterborough Court and Daniel House comprise 34,374 m² of office space and was owned by Jesta Capital. However, JLL was appointed as receiver in 2010 with instructions to sell the property to recoup unpaid debt.

The debt was owned by a British Virgin Island incorporated property holding special purpose vehicle. The debtor's primary asset was the freehold of Peterborough Court and Daniel House.

DLA Piper did not confirm the identity of the buyer or the investment volume, but said it was one of the largest disposals this year. The firm said that the debt restructuring and sale involved an 'innovative series of parallel schemes of arrangement' which were implemented in England and the British Virgin Islands to enable a debt-free vehicle to be sold to the purchaser.

Michael Fiddy, partner and London Location Head for Restructuring at DLA Piper said: 'The challenges of a complex capital structure, internationally diverse creditor base and English and British Virgin Island procedures were significant hurdles which we were able to overcome working closely with Jones Lang LaSalle.'

The purchaser was advised by Ashurst and the purchaser's funder by Mayer Brown International.

River Court, the other element of the Goldman Sachs complex, was acquired by Hong Kong-listed real estate company Chinese Estates for about EUR 334 mln in January 2011. That disposal was carried out by Warren & Partners on behalf of Irish investors and reflected a net initial yield of 5.25%.