Germany

Recent work highlights

Investment and disposal

• Advised Commerz Real on the acquisition of the "Millennium portfolio" from Generali Lebensversicherung. The portfolio comprises 49 office, residential and retail properties with a total rental area of over 352,000 square metres at central locations in German cities.
• Advised Invesco Real Estate on the sale of the "Prime Four" residential portfolio to Real I.S. The total area of the portfolio is approx. 69,400 square metres with approx. 760 residential and 32 commercial units.
• Advised DIC Asset on the launch of its largest fund to date with a gross investment volume of EUR 1.6 billion. Subsequently advised on the acquisition of the start-up property Deka Office Hub in Frankfurt from Lang & Cie. AG by way of a forward share deal with a value of approx. EUR 375 million.
• Advised Allianz Real Estate on the sale of Skyper office property in Frankfurt to a group of HDI Deutschland companies. Skyper is a high-rise building designed for multi-tenant use. It offers around 54,000 square metres of flexible rental space across 35 floors.
• Advised Allianz Real Estate on the acquisition of 75 % of a portfolio consisting of three office buildings in London's West End worth over EUR 440 million from British Land.
• Advised real estate investor x+bricks Group on a conditional purchase agreement with the SCP Group for 34 grocery-anchored properties in Germany with a total rental area of some 425,000 square metres. The agreement gives x+bricks access to a property pipeline worth more than EUR 1 billion (GAV – gross asset value).

Managers and occupiers

• Advised Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Givenchy, Berluti, Douglas, Klingenthal and DECATHLON among others on an ongoing basis on asset and property management issues. Recently extensive advice on various COVID-19-related issues.
• Advised Santander, axion, Allianz Real Estate, Amundi on an ongoing basis on asset and property management issues relating to existing real estate in Germany.
• Advised Cilon on the lease agreements for the twelve-storey office tower "Sky Eschborn". The main tenant is the Korean automotive supplier Mobis Parts Europe N.V., a Hyundai Motor Group company which has rented around 9,500 square metres of office space.
• Advised easyJet Airline Company on planned construction of maintenance hangar at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. A CMS team provided comprehensive legal advice during the negotiations and the contractual arrangement of the lease. The hangar will be used for the maintenance of the airline's European fleet and covers an area of approximately 10,000 square metres. EasyJet is also relying on CMS for advice on the construction of the hangar.

Financing

• Advising ELIREF, an Aberdeen Fund, on the financing of the acquisition of a pan-European real estate portfolio.
• Advised Global Tech Offshore Wind, the operating company behind the 400 MW Global Tech I wind farm in the North Sea, on all legal aspects of a comprehensive refinancing of existing loans. An international CMS team has been providing the operating company with legal support on a regular basis since the project was launched in 2011. Throughout realisation, CMS has provided comprehensive advice on project planning, construction and further rounds of financing. This is one of the first project finance arrangements for an offshore wind farm in Germany.
• Advised a German pension fund on the financing of Frankfurt 'FOUR' high-rise complex. Each of the four towers under construction was independently financed, including the relevant part of the shared base building. Total investment in the project amounts to more than EUR 1 billion.
• Advised DIC Asset on all legal aspects of purchasing and financing of the LOOK 21 property in the centre of Stuttgart for around EUR 122 million on behalf of a special AIF.
• Advising an international insurance company on the review of its entry as a syndicated lender into the financing of a pan-European real estate portfolio with a volume exceeding EUR 500 million.

Planning and environmental

• Advised VERBUND power plant Jochenstein in the planning approval procedure for the construction of a 300 MW pumped storage power plant on the German-Austrian border. Many environmental and planning law as well as procedural issues. One of the largest storage projects in Germany, measure recognised by EU Commission as a PCI.
• Advised a pharmaceuticals and biotech company on the development plan procedure for the intended plant expansion, in particular on issues relating to planning law, nature conservation and species protection law and water law, local infrastructure issues and local infrastructure charges law, including negotiation of urban planning agreements.
• Advised an biotech company on the public-law due diligence review in connection with the acquisition of a biotechnology site in Marburg and advice and legal opinion on public-law approval requirements, especially under the German Emission Control Act (BImSchG) at a manufacturing site for highly specialised pharmaceuticals.
• Advice [kcts] to the Federal State of Brandenburg on environmental law, including advice on contamination law in the course of negotiations on the purchase agreement for the sale of an industrial site to TESLA.
• Advice and representation of Femern A/S in the planning approval procedure for the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link. The planned combined railroad and freeway tunnel linking Fehmarn (Germany) and the island of Lolland (Denmark) is one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe, with an investment volume of more than EUR 7 billion. A CMS team provided comprehensive legal advice on the preparation of the cross-border Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the legal management of more than 13,000 objections and the successful representation of Femern A/S before the Federal Administrative Court in legal proceedings brought by several environmental associations, a ferry operator, several municipalities, landowners and other affected private parties over the planning approval decision.

Construction and development

• Advice to INEOS Phenol on the development of a new large-scale cumene production plant in Marl Chemical Park. The advice covers the entire project development with a multidisciplinary approach, including distribution, license, site establishment, real estate, planning and construction agreements.
• Advising a project development company on public procurement law in connection with the planned construction of a new cultural facility and a high-rise building with an impact on urban development as well as the legal structuring of the development process with regard to the involvement of a real estate fund. Furthermore, advice on public procurement law with regard to the tendering obligation and applicable award procedures for the lease of a new public authority building to be constructed for security authorities, and other private and public users. Moreover, advice on public procurement, public building and planning as well as state aid law with regard to the development and transaction of a property and its further lease to a contracting authority.
• Advising a financing institution on the procurement and subsidy law requirements for the construction of a nursing home. Furthermore, advice on public procurement law in connection with the finance lease of trams.
• Advising a US real property developer in connection with entering the European market. Our comprehensive advice includes the acquisition of real property, the development of eight logistics centres in Germany, several general contractor agreements with construction companies, framework agreement, financing and portfolio exit.
• Advising Leipzig 416 GmbH on the negotiation of an urban development agreement and four real property purchase agreements for community facilities for residential areas and public transport areas with the City of Leipzig for the Leipzig development area "Eutritzscher Freiladebahnhof". The project development is the largest in the new federal states, covering approx. 25 ha, where approx. 2,400 flats, commercial areas, a school and sports campus as well as two day-care centres are to be built.

Located in Berlin, Cologne, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart	25 real estate partners and 60 lawyers	Languages: German, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, French, Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish and Swedish