Home / Publications / CMS Next / CMS advises on first ever European real estate transaction...
  1. Protection and loyalty: securing valuable trade secrets
  2. Meet our expert: Maria Figueiredo, Partner, Portugal
  3. Meet our expert: Dalia Majumder-Russell, Partner, UK
  4. Digitalisation and innovation
  5. Contributing to climate-neutral transportation
  6. Investing in intelligent automation
  7. Advising on innovative digital project
  8. Supporting climate-resilient businesses
  9. Supercharged ESG: Getting control of the post-COVID agenda
  10. Meet our expert: Adriana Escobar, Partner, Colombia
  11. Meet our expert: Babita Ambekar, Partner, Singapore
  12. Meet our expert: Bridgett Majola, Partner, South Africa
  13. Meet our expert: Lillian Lofty, Partner, Kenya
  14. Meet our expert: Marite Aragaki, Partner, Peru
  15. Meet our other experts
  16. After the pandemic
  17. Digital transformation & sustainability to help overcome COVID crisis
  18. Data and risk: challenges in an uncertain world
  19. Smart living: creating a framework for disruption and innovation
  20. Technology: a unifying force
  21. The green economy: identifying primary risks and key opportunities
  22. The true cost of ESG
  23. Developing markets
  24. Investing in new technologies
  25. Shaping the Energy Transition
  26. Supporting electromobility
  27. Transforming the short-term insurance industry in the East African market
  28. Advising on a EUR 1.1bn Bulgarian gas pipeline procurement
  29. ALPLA expands its global plastic recycling capabilities
  30. CMS advises on first ever European real estate transaction using blockchain
  31. CMS advises on ‘Train Maya’ rail project
  32. CMS helps the BBC launch the streaming service BritBox in the UK
  33. Commerz Real lands the largest deal in its history
  34. Helping Teyliom Hospitality’s expansion in Central and West Africa
  35. Online gambling grows as Gamesys is sold to JPJ Group
  36. Selling the Merkur offshore wind farm
  37. ST Pharm establishes new medical testing and analysis business line
  38. CMS expands in Norway
  39. One woman’s journey to advocating for fair global health
  40. Raising funds for a good cause
  41. CMS Academy adds participants through digital learning
  42. Lupl delivers transformative open industry platform for legal matters
  43. Helping our clients grow
  44. Heike Wagner on women in law

CMS advises on first ever European real estate transaction using blockchain

Jérôme Sutour
Tokenisation through blockchain technology is expected to democratise real estate investment and ownership, while providing additional liquidity to the sector.
Jérôme Sutour

The AnnA town house in Boulogne-Billancourt, in the western suburbs of Paris, became the first European property to be purchased and held via a blockchain transaction in June 2019. The deal is expected to launch a new market for real estate assets that are tokenised using blockchain technology.

The transaction, which was valued at EUR 6.5m, was completed using the Equisafe digital investment platform. A CMS team in France, led by partner Jérôme Sutour, advised Equisafe on the structuring of the asset’s tokenisation process. “Tokenisation through blockchain technology is expected to democratise real estate investment and ownership, while providing additional liquidity to the sector. Transactions can be handled more quickly and easily. Tokens representing ownership shares are infinitely divisible, allowing for small investments from retail investors,” said Jérôme Sutour.

The AnnA town house was subject to a conventional sale process and was transferred into a joint-stock company, SAPEB AnnA. The company then divided the asset into approximately one hundred tokens (or digital shares) and these were issued to the promoter SAPEB Immobilier.

The ownership of the company is now embedded and encrypted into these tokens that exist in the blockchain. Equisafe intends to expand this tokenisation offering to sectors beyond the real estate sector.

Key contact

Jérôme Sutour
Partner
Head of Financial Services
Paris
T +33 1 47 38 55 00