Reed Smith has advised Invel Real Estate Partners on what it claims is the largest-ever real estate transaction in Greece.
Reed Smith Partners Panos Katsambas and Thomas Gommes led the team advising Invel on its acquisition of a 66% stake in NBG Pangaea Real Estate Investment Company from the National Bank of Greece for approximately EUR 653 million.
The Reed Smith team advised Invel on the structuring of its investment platform, the vehicle for the Pangaea transaction, and in negotiating the terms of the EUR 125 million investment by investment management firm York Capital. In addition, Reed Smith advised on regulatory, tax and antitrust matters, and coordinated the team of international counsel in Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Guernsey, Luxembourg, and the BVI.
Pangaea, the largest of the Greek REICs, will soon own (after closure of certain planned acquisitions during the first quarter of 2014) a portfolio of 269 commercial real estate properties, valued at over EUR 1 billion. The existing portfolio encompasses nearly all of the main office buildings of the National Bank of Greece and its bank branches, spread across various cities in Greece.
The Reed Smith team led by Katsambas and Gommes also included Partners Edward Miller and Caspar Fox, and Associates Andrew Clark and Stephen Mooney. Other firms advising Invel included Karatzas and Partners in Greece, Bonelli Erede Pappalardo in Italy, and Baker & McKenzie in the Netherlands. Sidley Austin advised Pangaea on corporate and M&A aspects.
