Salans advises on refinancing of German mall

A consortium of lenders led by NatixisZweigniederlassung Deutschland, and including ING Bank, Deutsche Postbank and Bawag PSK has provided refinancing for a EUR 190 mln loan facility relating to the Nova Eventis Shopping Center near Leipzig, Germany. International law firm Salans acted as lead counsel to the lenders.

Salans partner Bernhard Gemmel said the refinancing should be viewed as an 'encouraging example' of a successful refinancing of a real estate transaction which originated in the period of strong growth in the German market during the last deade.

The shopping centre was previously financed by foreign banks, and taken out in the capital markets, but has now been financed by a club of continental European credit institutions, he added. '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.'

The transaction marks the first lender counsel financing mandate for Salans Frankfurt on behalf of Natixis and several other members of the consortium. Salans London acted as UK counsel to the lenders, with Ogier covering the Guernsey and British Virgin Islands (BVI) law aspects of the transaction.