Real Estate and Construction Lawyers — Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (Russia) LLP

Real Estate Law Firm of the Year in Russia – Best Lawyers Awards 2017 - 2020
and in the UK – The Legal 500 UK Awards 2019

WHAT WE DO/ SPECIFIC AREAS OF FOCUS

Great choice for Russian real estate work

The practice is widely recognized both in Russia and in UK as the first real estate port of call for many high-profile international companies established or investing in Russia. As one of the teams in most demand on the market the practice has over 25 years of experience advising on the most challenging and complex domestic and cross-border real estate & construction matters (greenfield/brownfield), landmark projects and strategic deals many of which have been recognised as Deals of the Year and the biggest in their segment:

High-profile acquisitions and disposals of commercial property assets
Complex commercial property leasing matters
Large-scale construction and development projects
Social infrastructure projects
Day to day operational legal advice

Chambers Europe 2021
Leading group with an excellent track record in large-scale construction and development mandates. Active on high-value acquisitions and disposals of commercial property and property portfolios.

What makes us stand out?

We value each individual client and invest time in really studying your business and providing well-thought-out, strategic recommendations.

We listen carefully to your problems, helping you sort out unfamiliar issues and selecting the most effective solutions for the entire gamut of your business tasks.

We use our years of extensive practical experience and profound knowledge of sectoral specifics and the latest trends in our clients’ interests to guarantee your success in implementing the most complex and large scale projects. Our clients know that we measure success according to their standards, not our own.

We offer our clients comprehensive, all-round support, including transactional work, project work and regulatory advice. Taking into account the complex nature of most real estate projects we work in constant contact with experts in taxation, financing, corporate law/ M&A, arbitration proceedings, currency regulation, labour law and more.

The Legal 500 2020
A very practical and thoughtful team which covers the whole spectrum of real estate issues. All team members are very creative, client-oriented and dedicated to completing a task.

The practice is widely recognised within the professional community and has a brilliant reputation as one of the teams in most demand on the market, including thanks to references given by our clients, who note exclusively positive collaboration with us and an excellent price to quality correlation:

For eleven years in a row ranked Band / Tier 1 by major international legal directories Chambers & Patners and The Legal 500.
Many times winner of Real Estate Law Firm of the Year, including Best Lawyers in Russia 2017, 2019 and 2020 Editions.
Twice named the Real Estate Firm of the Year by the Legal 500 UK Awards (in 2019 and 2013).
Practice specialists are recognised as leading professionals in the field of real estate and project development (including power and mining) by Best Lawyers in Russia and IFLR1000.

IFLR 2020
Profound knowledge of legislation, pro-active approach.

For more details about our international experience, please click here.

Experience

Real estate & construction

Acted for the Far East and Baikal Region Development Fund on a RUB 2 bn secured loan for construction of a new terminal at Khabarovsk International Airport servicing domestic flights and the airport infrastructure.

Acted for Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, eBay, Kimberly-Clark, Motorola, Nike, Philips, Procter & Gamble, PVH (Tommy Hilfiger & Calvin Klein), Saint-Gobain, Toyota Bank, Volkswagen on national HQ office leases.

Real estate & construction

Advised Westminster Property Ventures on sale of the Tsentralnaya Hotel, the famous 19th century Filippov house on Tverskaya Street, to IHI plc, owners of the Malta-based Corinthia Hotels Group, and its Russian partners. The Buyer plans to renovate the building into a luxury Corinthia Hotel and branded serviced apartments for sale.

Real estate & construction

Advised Invest AG on the sale of a Class A Business centre on the Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway to the Moscow Region Government.

Real estate & construction

Represented UFG Real Estate Russia and Orientir Development (former Logopark Development) in a sale transaction of the Sever-2 logistics park to Raven Russia.

Real estate & construction

Advised a joint venture partner of the Georgian Co-investment Fund on development and operation of a hydro power plant in Georgia, including bespoke structuring analysis based on advice on the laws of 5 jurisdictions (Russia, Georgia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the UK), as well as analysis of Georgian and European tax treaty policy developments, in order to anticipate possible treaty renegotiations that might affect the structure.

Real estate & construction

Advising Mistral Wine, a major food and alcohol producer and distributor, a part of the Mistral group, on its acquisition of 200 ha of vineyards and a winery with a designed output of 840,000 litres per year in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai. The deal is the first big-ticket investment by the Group, one of the leading domestic alcohol importers, in its own wine estate in Russia.

Advised the combined company of Leader-Invest / Etalon – a Sistema major full cycle developer – on sale to Raiffeisenbank of an office building to be built as part of the high-rise urban development at Nagatino i-land. The new 16-floor business centre will have an area of 34,000 sq.m.

Advised Teva on selling a pharmaceutical plant in Yaroslavl Industrial Park (Novosyolki) to R-Pharm Group (Russian high-tech pharmaceutical company, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Russia). The GMP-certified enterprise located on 19 hectares offers 13,000 sq.m. of production space. It manufactures medications for cardiological, neurological and endocrinological diseases. The terms of the sale transaction include a five-year agreement under which R-Pharm will act as Teva’s production partner in order to ensure continuous access for patients to Teva medicines. The sale of the plant is part of the company's global strategy to optimize production capacity.

Providing legal advice and support in relation to development and construction of a gas processing / methanol production plant (design capacity: 1.2 million cubic meters of methanol annually) in the Russian Far East, including support with execution of the first Investment Treaty with the Ministry for Economics to promote and protect Investments (IPPA), land use and infrastructure issues. etc.

Real estate & construction

Advised on the biggest ever office lease on the Moscow commercial real estate market: drafting and negotiating the future property lease for the office space in the building located in the centre of Moscow to accommodate Tinkoff’s headquarters, including all its core subdivisions, such as Tinkoff Bank, Tinkoff Insurance, Tinkoff Mobile, Tinkoff Development Center, etc.

Real estate & construction

Advised Russia’s leading industrial park developer on one of the biggest warehouse market transactions - in connection with its sale of Sever-1 Logistics Park, a class A+ sophisticated warehousing facility, to PLT, a logistics platform set up by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Mubadala Investment Company and a number of Middle East investment funds.

Real estate & construction

Advised Nord Stream AG, Nord Stream 2 AG on the legal aspects of construction of the Russian component of the submarine gas pipeline. Matters advised on included international law, environmental aspects, re-categorisation of forest and agricultural land, liaisons with government authorities, permission documentation, construction, permits, authorisations and licences.

Advised Raven Property Group Limited on a conditional agreement for the acquisition of a completed and fully let warehouse of 64,375sqm in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, together with 21.5ha of adjacent land, from a fund managed by Amstar. Consideration for the acquisition is Roubles 2.8 bn (circa USD 41,5 m). The matter had significant importance for the Russian real estate market as Raven Property Group Limited is one of the few western funds continuing to consistently develop its business operations in Russia.

Provided comprehensive support for Mars Inc. projects in Russia, including the construction of nine plants in four Russian regions, major acquisitions (for example, Royal Canin, Wrigley and Korkunov), permission documentation, land use, land re-categorisation and permitted use issues, environmental aspects, representation in state arbitration courts, engineering infrastructure, and public tenders.

Advised South/ TurkStream on construction of the Russian Sector of the South/TurkStream Offshore Pipeline project from Russia to Turkey: land acquisition, spatial planning, environmental, corporate, financing arrangements, constructions, permitting and regulatory, liaisons with government authorities, authorisations and licenses, etc.

Advised Globus, a German hypermarket chain, on its expansion on the Russian market, specifically on acquiring a land plot and properties in north-east Moscow for a new hypermarket.

Comprehensive legal support on the USD 1 bn reconstruction of Sheremetyevo International Airport: construction of two passenger and one cargo terminals, demolition of an old terminal and construction of a unique tunnel under the runway to connect the passenger terminals. We are also advised on supply of passenger and luggage transport equipment and relocation of the existing utilities and infrastructure, and are provided support for construction of a new fueling facility. Our mandate also included consolidation of the airport’s asset consolidation, project finance and preparation of the airport for privatisation, corporate, finance and tax matters, etc.