M&A at Hogan Lovells

Real Estate

Life Sciences
and Health Care Technology, Media,
and Telecoms

Deal value and volume in the real estate sector remained relatively stable in 2019, held steady by investments into PropTech and other technology-driven disruptors.

The REIT M&A space in the United States continued to be vibrant in 2019, maintaining the ten-year high set during 2018 for M&A activity by publicly-traded equity REITs, particularly in the hotel and logistics subsectors.

In 2019, we launched our Hogan Lovells Real Estate Horizons, a snapshot of key topics and market trends shaping the future of the real estate sector. We also published thought leadership on topics including sustainability in Europe, the changing landscape of real estate taxation, cyber-attacks and data breaches, the new U.S. Opportunity Zone program, brand protection, and real estate debt funds.

We organized our inaugural Hogan Lovells Global Real Estate Investment Conference in London; held major client events around the world, including at MIPIM, Expo Real, and NAREIT; and expanded our Hogan Lovells Real Estate Academy in Germany.

300+

Real Estate lawyers

Band 1

Commercial Property: Development
Legal 500 UK, 2019

In 2019, Hogan Lovells advised on the following
Real Estate transactions, among others:

Carey Watermark

Carey Watermark

We are advising the Special Committee of Carey Watermark Investors 1 on its all-stock merger with Carey Watermark Investors 2 to form Watermark Lodging Trust (WLT), a US$4.6bn non-traded REIT with increased scale and operating efficiencies. The transaction is expected to position WLT for long-term value creation and liquidity, including a potential public listing or IPO in the coming years. A team of lawyers in our Washington, D.C. office is leading this transaction, with support from our employee benefits, employment, real estate, and tax practices.

Industrial Property Trust

We advised Industrial Property Trust (IPT) on its US$3.99bn sale to Prologis. The transaction involved 236 industrial properties located in 24 cities across the United States. IPT is managed by Black Creek Group, an experienced real estate investment management and development firm. This is the second M&A transaction that the firm has advised on for public entities managed by Black Creek Group. A team of lawyers in our Washington, D.C. office led this deal, with support from our employee benefits, litigation, and tax practices.

Mapletree Investments

We advised Mapletree Investments on its US$1.4bn acquisition of a data center portfolio in North America from Digital Realty Trust. As part of the transaction, Mapletree purchased 10 existing data centers for approximately US$557m and entered into a joint venture with Digital Realty Trust to co-invest in three additional data centers for approximately US$811m. A team of lawyers in our Washington, D.C. office led this transaction, with support from our antitrust, environment, international trade, and tax practices.

Park Hotels & Resorts

We advised Park Hotels & Resorts on its US$2.7bn acquisition of Chesapeake Lodging Trust, creating the second-largest publicly-traded lodging REIT in the United States. The merger advances Park’s strategic goals of portfolio enhancement and diversification. A team of lawyers in our Washington, D.C. office led this transaction, with support from our employee benefits, finance, regulatory, real estate, regulatory, and tax practices.