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Laurence is a Senior Equity Partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP.

Laurence is recognised by Chambers UK 2009 as a leading individual for UK Real Estate Finance with clients appreciating his “ability to explain things very matter-of-factly, which is exceptional in this market“. Laurence is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales with more than ten years standing.

Laurence specialises in all aspects of finance including real estate finance, investment, development and structured finance (at senior and mezzanine level debt), both on United Kingdom and on International deals for the syndicated and securitisation markets. He acts for a mix of lenders and borrowers. Laurence spent six months seconded to the European CMBS desk at Goldman Sachs International where he advised on a wide range of loan originations across Europe for securitisation transactions.

Track Record

International work

• Advising Barclays Capital (the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC) on the SEK5.3bn loan to Keops AG, a Danish property investor to help finance their acquisition of 172 properties located throughout Sweden.
• Advising PropInvest, a large English property investor, on borrowing Ђ1.85bn acquisition of the Global Headquarters complex of Banco Santander in Madrid, the largest ever single European real estate acquisition.
• Advising Capmark Bank Europe Plc in relation to their financing of an acquisition of the Flora Park Shopping Centre in Germany.

Securitisation origination/distribution/refinancing

• Advising Goldman Sachs International and Lehman Brothers on the Ј447m loan to Tishman Speyer to finance the acquisition of CityPoint.
• Advising Bank of Scotland plc on the Ј460m refinancing of Kandahar Real Estate Limited, a joint venture between Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund and entities owned by Carphone Warehouse Group PLC co-founder David Ross.

Hotel financing

• Advising Barclays Bank, Calyon and Allied Irish Bank on its Ј111,000,000 financing to a large hotel owner for the acquisition of the Waldorf Hotel, London.

Restructurings

• Advising Barclays Capital (the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC) on the restructuring of a SEK5.3bn loan to Keops AG
• Advising UBS AG on the restructuring of a Ј64,000,000 financing provided to the Italian hotel group Gruppo Statuto.

Development financing

• Advising Omega Land in connection with the Ј172,500,000 construction facility provided by Lehman Brothers for the construction of a skyscraper in the City of London. The new Drapers Gardens building will be one of the largest developments in City of London. The advise covered all aspects of the financing including the two-stage tender process which gave Omega Land the controls needed for this high quality City location block.

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