Ropes & Gray Advises on £295 Million Acquisition of Landmark City of London Office Block

Ropes & Gray has advised King Street and Arax Properties on their joint venture acquisition of Alban Gate in the City of London for £295 million, which has completed this week. 

The 22-storey, 382,000 square foot Grade A office building straddles London Wall, in a prime, well-connected location between Farringdon, Moorgate, St. Paul’s and Barbican stations. Alban Gate underwent a major refurbishment in 2014 by its principal tenant JP Morgan. 

King Street Real Estate, the real estate investment arm of King Street Capital Management, manages several opportunistic real estate funds, which invest in equity and debt in dislocated markets and complex situations. Over the past 10 years, King Street has invested approximately $2.5 billion in nearly 50 direct real estate transactions across a wide range of sub-sectors primarily in the United States and Europe. Arax Properties is a privately held real estate company with assets primarily in the UK, Germany and France. Arax creates value throughout the life cycles of its properties by combining institutional-class financial and strategic know-how with hands-on operational skills and local expertise. Arax has in excess of EUR 2 billion of assets under management and is headquartered in London, with offices in Berlin, Paris and Luxembourg. 

Ropes & Gray advised on both the acquisition and financing of the deal. The Ropes & Gray team was led by private equity real estate partner David Seymour. Other members of team included tax partner Andrew Howard and counsel Chris Agnoli and PERE associate Harriet Banner. All members of the team were based in London.