Ashurst advises on $3.35bn office fund deal

Ashurst has advised the highest bidder in a multi-billion-dollar deal to acquire a leading Australian property fund from Investa Listed Funds Management Limited.

Canadian firm Oxford Properties beat original bidder Blackstone with an offer of AU$5.60 per unit, valuing the Investa Office Fund at $3.35 billion.

Oxford – owned by Canadian pension fund OMERS – was an eleventh hour bidder. Blackstone said this week that it would not be making a better offer for the fund which has a portfolio including 20 Sydney towers.

Ashurst advised Oxford on all aspects of the scheme and the initial acquisition, including transaction structuring, provision of regulatory advice and negotiation of the key transaction documents.

The team of around 50 was led by Sydney-based partner Anton Harris, supported by real estate partners Pauline Tan and David Jones.

4 sectors led Q3 M&A says Hogan Lovells
A report from Hogan Lovells shows that third quarter global M&A deals were led by four key sectors.

Using a new tool from the law firm and Mergermarket called Deal Dynamics, the report shows that Diversified Industrials, Energy, Real Estate and TMT were the big deals in deals in Q3 2018.

The Deal Dynamics tool allows users to mine cross-border data set by date range, geography, sector, value and volume to create market snapshots, compare activity levels and assess cross-border and domestic deal flows.

Clyde & Co launches North American specialty & investigations team
Clyde & Co has launched a new team to advise on matters that require investigative and risk expertise as well as the ability to act in a variety of legal contexts and forums.

The North American Specialty and Investigations team will collaborate with the rest of the firm’s global network.

Among the team’s experience is the investigation and recovery of stolen diamonds worth more than USD 44 million and property claims at an art storage facility damaged during Superstorm Sandy.