Ropes & Gray Advises Kering on $900 Million Fifth Avenue Real Estate Joint Venture with Ardian

Ropes & Gray LLP advised Kering SA and Kering Americas, Inc. in connection with the formation of a strategic real estate joint venture with an affiliate of Ardian US LLC relating to Kering’s flagship luxury retail property located at 715–717 Fifth Avenue in New York City. The transaction, valued at approximately $900 million, involved Kering contributing the 115,000-square-foot, multi-level Fifth Avenue property to a newly formed joint venture in which Ardian holds a 60% interest and Kering retains a 40% interest. The venture also obtained $450 million of mortgage financing in connection with the transaction from a syndicate of lenders led by Credit Agricole.

The transaction was a complex, cross-border project encompassing corporate and tax structuring, complicated legal documentation, traditional New York City real estate and leasing work, and a mortgage loan to finance the transaction. The matter required close coordination across multiple practice areas and collaboration with multiple U.S. and French legal teams, and involved developing novel and effective solutions to bridge differing U.S. and European transaction and structuring norms while preserving Kering’s long-term ownership of a trophy asset in a premier retail location.

Ropes & Gray advised Kering on transaction structuring, U.S. tax considerations, the venture and financing legal documentation.

The Ropes & Gray team was led by real estate partner David Kaye and tax partner Adam Greenwood and included real estate counsel Steven Levick, real estate associates Matt Ruffe, Paul Schuman and Twinkle Patel, and tax associate Melanie Xu.