David advises European and international investors on complex real estate matters, with a focus on cross-border private equity real estate and infrastructure transactions. He has a broad practice working with top tier sponsors including real estate funds, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, family offices and operating partners.
David has experience across all types of real estate and infrastructure assets and businesses including data centres, digital infrastructure, logistics/industrial, hospitality and hotels, health care/life sciences, social infrastructure, residential (PRS/BTR and build to sell), student accommodation, offices and retail.
David works with his clients through all phases of the investment lifecycle, advising on structuring and executing distressed and non-distressed transactions including joint ventures and co-investments, real estate M&A, direct and indirect acquisitions/disposals, all types of financings, preferred and structured equity, restructurings, major sale and leasebacks and development projects/financings.
He also maintains an active pro bono practice advising a number of non-profit organisations and is a school governor at Northampton High School, a member of The Girls Day School Trust.
David has been recognised in The Legal 500 for a number of years as a Leading Partner, ranked in Chambers and by IFLR1000 as a Notable Practitioner.
Clients have described David in directories as “a pre-eminent private equity real estate lawyer with an intricate knowledge of the market and his clients' businesses which enables him to give no-nonsense, practical advice” and David and team are “standouts,” “extremely responsive and thorough” with an ability to “cut straight to the heart of issues on transactions”. Clients also compliment their “commercial acumen and ability to find sensible compromises in negotiations as first rate.”
Experience
- The Baupost Group on a £900 million joint venture acquisition, together with KKR as its 50:50 partner, of a portfolio of 33 Marriott hotels across the UK from a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
- Sixth Street on its UK and European real estate acquisitions, investments, joint ventures and financings including its platform joint venture with Henley Investment Management, a UK-based private equity real estate firm, and on the joint venture’s first acquisition of a large office campus in West London close to Heathrow Airport
- Partners Group on its UK and European real estate acquisitions and investments including domestic and cross-border joint ventures and financings including a programmatic joint venture with Host Student Housing to build up a £1 billion UK purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) and co-living platform and on the joint venture’s first acquisition of a four-asset seed portfolio
- Yondr on the €500 million acquisition, development and financing of one of the World’s largest data centres and its associated letting to a major international tech company
- Atlas Edge, a leading pan-European Edge data centre provider and joint venture between Liberty Global and Digital Bridge on various matters including financing arrangements to support its construction of new data centres in Portugal
- GIC in connection with its acquisition of a 40% interest in The Oxford Science Park from Magdalen College, Oxford and on a strategic joint venture between GIC and Magdalen College aimed at accelerating major development of the Science Park
- King Street and Arax Properties on their joint venture acquisition from Blackstone of Alban Gate in the City of London for £295 million and on the associated financing with Apollo
- Dutch pension fund APG on:
- its acquisition of a 75 per cent. interest in a joint venture with TH Real Estate, with a combined equity commitment of c.£800 million, to develop the St. James Centre in Edinburgh, one of the UK’s largest private regeneration projects
- a €400 million joint venture with Hines Ireland to develop four greenfield sites at Cherrywood, Dublin for PRS and associated retail and leisure purposes and on a wider €700 million PRS joint venture in the Dublin area
- QuadReal on UK and European indirect real estate investments
- A U.S. Opportunity Fund with over $27 billion of assets under management on its UK and European real estate acquisitions and investments including domestic and cross-border joint venture
- Bain Capital Real Estate in evaluating, negotiating and structuring real estate investments directly as well as through joint ventures, funds, co-investments and management arrangements with international and domestic sponsors, operators and manager
- A Sovereign Wealth Fund on its 50:50 joint venture with Brookfield in relation to the acquisition of Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, reported to be Germany’s largest real estate transaction for eight years
- Saïd Holdings on its real estate investments and financings, including on the acquisition and subsequent sale of 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, to a Chinese investor for £270 million and the acquisition of Aldermary House in the City of London for £48 million
- A South African Investor on a series of central London office acquisitions and financings totalling c.£250 million including the acquisition and financing of One Bartholomew Lane in the City of London
- A PERE Fund on its tenant credit sale and leaseback of four prominent London based private hospitals to a healthcare investor for £227 million
- A PERE Fund on the structured acquisition, financing and subsequent sale of 123 Buckingham Palace Road, London for c.£243 million
- A variety of Private Equity Funds including Bain Capital and TPG in connection with the real estate aspects of PE acquisitions and dispositions, including structuring and negotiation of occupancy leases, acquisition and disposition agreements and sale and leasebacks
Credentials
Publications
Awards
Memberships & Affiliations
Disclaimer
Ropes & Gray International LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in Delaware, United States of America and is a recognised body regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (with registered number 521000).