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Corporate Real Estate and Funds

Corporate Real Estate and Funds

Corporate Real Estate and Funds

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Overview

We help clients unlock opportunity in corporate real estate and investment funds through legal solutions grounded in market insight and sector depth.

As the real estate investment landscape evolves, clients need advisers who bring global perspective, local insight and emotional intelligence to every mandate. Whether guiding a manager through fund formation or advising investors on complex indirect real estate M&A, our approach always begins with listening.

We advise across the full fund lifecycle – from structuring and capital raising to regulatory compliance, restructuring and exit strategies. We bring Real Perspective by acting for both fund managers and investors, including sovereign wealth funds, corporate and government pension plans, retirement systems and foundations. This insight allows us to anticipate issues on both sides of the investment table and shape smarter strategies.

Our strength lies in our Real Relationships with several of the world’s most active fund managers. We advise across a wide variety of investment vehicles – including private equity, real estate, credit and venture capital funds – and have particular depth in the real estate funds space. By drawing on our global network, we offer seamless multidisciplinary support that spans corporate, finance, tax and regulatory issues.

Directories such as Chambers and Legal 500 consistently recognize our expertise, and many of our clients have trusted us with their legal needs for decades.

With every deal, we focus on delivering clarity, confidence and competitive edge - helping clients navigate complexity and move forward with purpose.

17

Our team have been ranked for 17 years by leading legal directory Chambers & Partners.

£1bn

Advised on the largest UK hotels sale on record: Grange Hotels’ portfolio sale to Queensgate Investments

49%

The amount Pluto Capitals investment management platform to USS, resulting in a joint venture, that we advised on

The funds team is able to simplify the complex and be constructive and commercial.

Chambers & Partners 2023

"Exceptional market knowledge from a legal perspective but also from an investor’s position is unsurpassed. Innovations include excellent networking initiatives and a willingness to role sleeves up on industry lobbying initiatives.”
Legal 500 2023

"They have intimate knowledge of the latest transactions, as well as extensive technical and negotiating skills."
Chambers & Partners 2023

"The BCLP real estate funds team  are extremely knowledgeable across the full spectrum of onshore and offshore investment vehicles including limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, unit trusts and authorised open-ended funds. They effectively leverage the firm’s multidisciplinary real estate expertise to deliver great results for clients. I view them as a top-tier real estate funds practice."
Legal 500 2023

"Our relationship partner is smart and responsive to our real estate fund needs. We have a collaborative relationship, from the conceptual discussions regarding new fund opportunities through to the detailed drafting and negotiation of documentation with multiple investors."
Legal 500 2023

Kieran Saunders

Kieran Saunders

Partner and Global Practice Group Leader – Corporate Real Estate & Funds, London

+44 (0) 20 3400 4749
Kieran Saunders

Kieran Saunders

Partner and Global Practice Group Leader – Corporate Real Estate & Funds, London

+44 (0) 20 3400 4749

Meet The Team

Kieran Saunders

Kieran Saunders

Partner and Global Practice Group Leader – Corporate Real Estate & Funds, London

+44 (0) 20 3400 4749

Experience

The team have recently advised:

  • KKR, the global investment firm, on their £610m investment in UK-wide BTR projects, including their investment into a new £1.7bn BTR JV platform with Apache Capital which is expected to deliver 4,000 homes.
  • The largest UK hotels sale on record – Grange Hotels’ £1bn portfolio sale to Queensgate Investments. The portfolio comprised four hotels in central London. 
  • Long Harbour (a specialist real estate investment, development and management firm) on its £1bn club fund formation, joint ventures and expansive investment program
  • WR Berkley on its sale of the Scalpel for more than £700m and the establishment of the new debt fund management platform, Birchwood Investors
  • Pluto Capital on the formation of seven real estate debt funds and the sale of 49% of its investment management platform to USS and the resulting joint venture
  • Edge Technology on two joint ventures – a JV with Mitsui Fosun for the acquisition and development of the London Stock Exchange Building, and a JV with Goldman Sachs for the development of a cutting-edge smart building at London Bridge.
  • U.S. private equity real estate firm Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors – one of the 50 largest PE firms in the world – on a significant joint venture with GSA/Kinetic to create a new $1 billion debt funding platform (under the Rhize Capital brand) for the European student housing financing market serving experienced PBSA owners, developers and operators in the UK and Europe.
  • CBRE Global Investors on the creation of the CBRE UK Property PAIF, including the merger of the real estate portfolios previously held by CBRE UK Property Fund and the Electricity Pension Scheme to create the £1.4bn fund. 
  • Canary Wharf Group and LandSec on the £1.28bn sale of interests in the fund vehicles holding 20 Fenchurch Street, also known as the Walkie Talkie, an iconic London office building. 
  • Clearbell Capital on the formation of a series of private equity real estate funds including, most recently, Clearbell Property Partners III which raised commitments of £310m from investors in the US, Australia, Europe, Middle East and South America. 
  • Unite Students, the UK’s leading manager and developer of student accommodation on its specialist funds and joint ventures with institutional investment partners, including the £2.3 billion Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund, an open-ended non-listed real estate fund. 

Related Insights

Insights
Apr 16, 2025

AIFMD II Leverage Limits and Single Borrower Exposure Restriction

AIFMD II[1]introduces substantial changes to the EU-wide regulatory framework for alternative investment fund managers (“AIFMs”) that was established under AIFMD. The changes cover a wide range of areas but will have a particularly significant impact on funds that originate loans. Among the new rules on loan origination activities are leverage limits and single borrower exposure limits which are particularly relevant for the use of back-leverage by private credit funds operating in the EU. These new rules will also be relevant for AIFMs in the UK managing credit funds located in the EU.

Related Insights

Insights
Apr 16, 2025
AIFMD II Leverage Limits and Single Borrower Exposure Restriction
AIFMD II[1]introduces substantial changes to the EU-wide regulatory framework for alternative investment fund managers (“AIFMs”) that was established under AIFMD. The changes cover a wide range of areas but will have a particularly significant impact on funds that originate loans. Among the new rules on loan origination activities are leverage limits and single borrower exposure limits which are particularly relevant for the use of back-leverage by private credit funds operating in the EU. These new rules will also be relevant for AIFMs in the UK managing credit funds located in the EU.
News
Mar 31, 2025
BCLP advise GPE on acquisition of West End HQ development opportunity
News
Jan 30, 2025
BCLP advised Grosvenor on high-profile £1.2bn joint venture with Norges Bank
News
Jan 30, 2025
BCLP strengthens Paris office with new Financial Regulation and Asset Management team
Awards
Oct 17, 2024
Chambers 2025 UK guide ranks BCLP in 34 practice areas and recognises 74 individual lawyers
News
Oct 03, 2024
BCLP advises Tristan Capital Partners’ EPISO 6 Fund on the acquisition of Cody Technology Park for £112M
News
Sep 16, 2024
BCLP advise Burstone on their strategic partnership with Blackstone in relation to its €1.1bn pan-European logistics portfolio
News
Jul 18, 2024
BCLP Advises Cheyne Capital on Joint Venture with Regal for Student Accommodation Development
News
May 21, 2024
BCLP advises Hines on its debut investment in European self-storage sector