Apr 15, 2008

Cleary Gottlieb is representing Deutsche Post in its €1 billion sale of a portfolio of real estate to U.S. investor Lone Star Funds. The portfolio comprises about 1,300 assets located mainly in Germany. After the transfer of the properties to Lone Star, Deutsche Post will lease most of them back under an innovative lease agreement. The deal is expected to close successively as assets are ready for transfer, beginning on July 1.

Deutsche Post is part of the Deutsche Post World Net, one of the world’s leading logistics companies with over 467,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. In 2007, it had €63.5 billion in revenues.

Lone Star Funds are headquartered in Dallas, Texas. They are closed-end, private-equity limited partnerships that include as partners corporate and public pension funds, university endowments, foundations, bank holding companies, family trusts and insurance companies.

Jun 16, 2008

Cleary Gottlieb represented Meraas Capital LLC in its acquisition of a 20% interest in the GM Building through a joint venture with Boston Properties Limited Partnership and US Real Estate Opportunities I, L.P., a Goldman Sachs managed investment fund. The governments of Kuwait and Qatar are the principal investors in US Real Estate Opportunities. The joint venture acquired the GM Building from Harry Macklowe for $2.8 billion, and three other New York office buildings for an additional $1.1 billion.

General Motors developed the GM Building in 1968. It is a landmark 50-story office tower located in the heart of New York’s Plaza District, and it is home to tenants including Weil Gotshal, Estee Lauder and FAO Schwartz. It is also the site of the cutting edge Bohlin Cywinski Jackson designed glass cube that serves as the entrance to the underground Apple Store.

As part of the deal, the joint venture also agreed to purchase three other New York office buildings, 2 Grand Central Tower, 125 West 55th Street and 540 Madison Avenue, for an additional $1.1 billion. The aggregate purchase price for all four assets was $4 billion.

Meraas Capital LLC is an investment company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Meraas is envisaged to become a leading real estate and private equity investment holding company with a multibillion dollar diversified portfolio of investments that include income-producing and long-term strategic assets globally.

Boston Properties is a Public REIT that owns, operates and develops Class A office buildings throughout the United States.

Nov 19, 2007

Cleary Gottlieb represented Istithmar Building FZE in its sale of 280 Park Avenue (the former Bankers Trust Building), an office building located in New York, to Broadway Partners for $1.275 billion. The contract was signed on April 2, and the deal closed on November 19.

Because Istithmar acquired the property in June 2006, the transaction was structured to include an assumption by Broadway Partners of the mortgage and seven levels of mezzanine debt. 280 Park Avenue includes approximately 1.2 million square feet of class-A commercial office space as well as high-end restaurant and retail space on the ground floor.

Nov 13, 2007

Cleary Gottlieb represented Goldman Sachs Mortgage Company in its origination of mortgage and mezzanine loans in the aggregate amount of $1,800,000,000 to affiliates of the Whitehall Street Global Real Estate Limited Partnership 2007. The variable rate loans, which were funded on October 25, financed the acquisition of Equity Inns, Inc., a publicly traded hotel real estate investment trust (REIT), by the Whitehall Street Global Real Estate Limited Partnership 2007 and certain of its sister funds, and is secured by first lien mortgages on a portfolio of 111 hotels under various franchise names in 34 states, as well as pledges of indirect equity interests in an additional 24 hotels.

Goldman Sachs Mortgage Company is the commercial mortgage lending affiliate of Goldman Sachs & Co. Whitehall Street Global Real Estate Limited Partnership 2007 is one of the Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds, a series of investment funds raised and sponsored by Goldman Sachs & Co. for purposes of investing in commercial, multifamily, hospitality and recreational property around the world. Prior to its acquisition by Whitehall, Equity Inns, Inc. was a Memphis, Tennessee-based REIT and was the third largest publicly traded hotel REIT.

Sep 10, 2007

Cleary Gottlieb is representing Istithmar PJSC in its joint venture with MGM Mirage and Kerzner International Holdings Limited for the development of a 40+ acre, multi-billion dollar integrated resort property on the Las Vegas Strip. The deal signed on September 10, and the parties expect to develop the resort over the next several years. The as-yet unnamed resort will use existing brands owned by either MGM or Kerzner, or a new brand will be introduced.

MGM Mirage is a leading hotel and gaming company. Kerzner International Holdings is a developer and operator of destination resorts, casinos and luxury hotels, including the Atlantis and One&Only brands. Istithmar is Dubai’s private investment vehicle.

Aug 08, 2007

Cleary Gottlieb represented Goldman Sachs Mortgage Company (GSMC) in its origination of an $850 million mortgage loan to a Brookfield Properties affiliate. The loan, secured by One Liberty Plaza in lower Manhattan, home to Cleary Gottlieb's New York office, funded on August 8.

GSMC is the commercial mortgage lending affiliate of Goldman Sachs & Co. Brookfield Properties is an office property corporation that owns, develops, and operates premier assets in the downtown cores of high-growth North American cities.

Jun 28, 2007

Cleary Gottlieb advised Citigroup Global Markets Limited as underwriter in the €172.5 million Regulation S offering of new shares by Orco Property Group, which closed on June 18. Orco listed the shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and the Budapest Stock Exchange, in addition to its existing listings on Eurolist by Euronext Paris and the Prague Stock Exchange. Orco is the only company to be listed on each of these exchanges.

Orco Property Group, a Luxembourg company, is a leading investor, developer, and asset manager in the Central European real estate market. Its property portfolio has been valued by an independent appraiser at €1.3 billion, including over 40% in the Czech Republic, 20% in Germany and about 10% each in Poland and Croatia. The company develops and invests in residential and commercial properties, and also manages The Endurance Real Estate Fund for Central Europe, which invests in residential, office, retail and hospitality properties in Central and Eastern Europe.

Apr 03, 2008

Cleary Gottlieb represented Nakheel Hotels in its acquisition of a 50% interest in the One&Only Palmilla, a Mexican resort with an enterprise value of $315 million. Nakheel acquired its stake in the resort from real estate opportunity funds affiliated with Goldman Sachs’ Whitehall Street Real Estate Fund. Kerzner International Holdings Limited, a developer and operator of destination resorts, casinos and luxury hotels, including the Atlantis and One&Only brands, will retain a 50% interest in the property as Nakheel’s joint venture partner. The deal closed on April 3.

Nakheel Hotels is a fully integrated hotel investment and development company that invests money on behalf of the government of Dubai.

The One&Only Palmilla is a 250-acre luxury oceanfront resort located in a master-planned community in Los Cabos, Mexico. It includes a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus. The One&Only Palmilla was listed as the number one resort in Mexico by Condé Nast Traveler’s 2007 Annual Readers’ Choice Awards.