Mayer Brown LLP

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Mayer Brown's Real Estate Group is large, varied and international in its capability. Each year, Mayer Brown real estate lawyers handle thousands of purchases, sales, leases, financings, securitization transactions and restructurings involving tens of billions of dollars and pounds around the world. The Real Estate Group consists of lawyers throughout our international network of offices with the combined expertise and skills necessary to provide excellent service to clients in complex real estate transactions worldwide.

We provide fully integrated skills and a proven track record in key real estate areas such as tax, environment and project finance, both from within the Group, but also drawn from our other specialist Groups in the firm. We have gained broad experience and high visibility in real estate transactions by developing a worldwide network of relationships with lenders, developers, investors, corporates, and other professional advisers. Mayer Brown's Real Estate Group has the resources and experience to advise on any type of transaction.

With the diverse array of structures and sources of finance now in the market (joint ventures, hedges, derivatives, mezzanine loans, commercial paper conduits, swaps, caps, synthetic leases, leveraged leases and more) the real estate industry spills over its historic boundaries into a wide range of substantive areas. Mayer Brown knows these products; in many cases we helped create them. As one of the world's leading firms in banking law, securitization, tax, environmental law, investment management, creditors rights, and project finance, we are well positioned to guide our clients through the business considerations, regulatory constraints and tax implications of the structures that best meet their needs.

Our real estate practice is enhanced by our extensive involvement and influence at various levels of the real estate industry. Many of our partners are involved with industry organizations and committees and regularly participate in the formation of central and local government policies and initiatives. We are a leading voice in the industry with our lawyers teaching, publishing and speaking on a variety of issues. Several of our lawyers have served on the faculties of major law schools teaching real estate law, while a number are authors or co-authors of important industry texts.

Real Estate Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Since its inception, the team has been named by Legal 500 and Chambers as one of the leading real estate litigation practices. We were the first to recognise the need for specialist contentious expertise and to set up a dedicated team for real estate litigation. We have the strength, experience and depth to advise and deal with the most complex matters for our clients.

Real Estate Capital Markets

Mayer Brown’s Real Estate Capital Markets practice provides advisory services to a wide range of companies engaged in the real estate industry, including public and private equity REITs, mortgage REITs, public and private partnerships, financial advisers and intermediaries, pension funds and other institutional investors. The diversity of our experience spans the globe and has included work on nearly every asset class, including major shopping malls, multifamily residential properties, hotels and motels, health care facilities, as well as office and industrial properties.

As one of the largest law firms in the world, we provide general corporate and securities advice to companies around the world, including many Fortune 500 and FTSE 250 issuers. We also bring the same resources to bear for our real estate clients in connection with:
* The formation of non-listed public REITs
* The formation and organization of REITs and UPREITs, including roll-up transactions, spin-offs and formation of “downREIT partnerships”
* The formation of institutional and other real estate private equity and debt funds and joint ventures
* Public and private M&A transactions, including tender and exchange offers
* Innovative acquisition strategies through joint venture and other arrangements
* Initial Public Offerings, both underwritten and on a best-efforts basis
* Private and public debt offerings, common and preferred equity and convertible securities, including continuous offerings and rights offerings
* Conversions of existing corporations and partnerships into REITs
* Mortgage-backed securitizations
* Stock repurchase programs, including open market and negotiated repurchases
* Redemptions and forced conversions
* Capital and liability management of existing capital structures, including tender offers, exchange offers, buy-back programs, consent solicitations and negotiated redemptions and conversions

With more than 40 years experience structuring, organizing and capitalizing all types of domestic and international publicly and privately owned real estate companies and investment funds, Mayer Brown has earned the praise of its clients, who recently said: “Mayer Brown delivers a “fantastic” service to REITs. The consistency of staffing makes it very efficient, and the team understands the economics of real estate, which is beneficial when it comes to structuring deals.” – Chambers USA 2008

Examples of the areas in which we specialise are:
* Interpretation of leases
* Covenant enforcement
* Business tenant renewals
* Rent review
* Break notices
* Dilapidations disputes
* Remedies
* Easement and covenant disputes
* Service charge disputes
* Party wall issues and boundary disputes.

We work closely with our clients to identify their objectives from the beginning so that, together, we can formulate strategic and tactical objectives, and provide clear, proactive and practical advice.

As well as contentious advice, we prioritise advising clients on litigation avoidance and are skilled in pre-emptive action such as injunctions.

If required, our clients have access to our real estate, environmental and other specialist lawyers with whom we work closely to provide the best possible advice. We also specialise in insurance related and professional indemnity work within the real estate sector, advising mainly insurers.

Real Estate Finance

We regularly represent individual lenders, syndicates and other market participants in all types of real estate finance transactions. These transactions include investment property funding, construction funding, and predevelopment commitment funding. As part of these deals we are often involved in structuring the relevant financing arrangements (including creating synthetic leases, participating, convertible and other "equity kicker" loans, "credit-enhanced" revenue bond financings and multi-tranched/layered debt arrangements).

Our practice covers origination of real estate finance transactions as well as the subsequent distribution (whether by way of syndication, securitization or otherwise) of these transactions.

We believe that our expertise in advising lenders and investors on real estate finance transactions is significantly enhanced by the expertise we have derived from our regular representation of some of the most significant real estate developers, institutional advisors and investors and lessors.

In addition, our firm has become a leader in representing clients dealing with troubled real estate financing arrangements. Our real estate lawyers work closely with our workout, bankruptcy and business reorganization practice group and our litigators who specialize in foreclosures, general creditors' remedies and bankruptcy litigation to bring an extra dimension of expertise to our clientele.

Mayer Brown LLP
700 Louisiana St #3400
Houston TX 77002-2730
Tel: 713 238-3000
Fax: 713 238-4888