Goodwin advised GreenOak Real Estate on its acquisition of Grafton Advisors from UK property developer Quintain Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lone Star Real Estate Fund IV.
Grafton, a central London asset, property and development management business, will continue to operate independently, backed by its new shareholder. Its major focus is its West End of London Property Unit Trust (WELPUT) client, which was established in 2001 in partnership with Schroder Real Estate. Grafton has helped to build the portfolio and performance of WELPUT – the top-performing fund in the Association of Real Estate Funds Index over the past 10 years – since its inception.
GreenOak was formed in 2010 as an independent, partner-owned real estate investment and advisory firm that seeks to create long term value for its investors and provide strategic advice to its clients. GreenOak has raised $4.8 billion of discretionary equity for real estate investment in Europe, the United States and Asia. As at March 31, 2016, GreenOak had acquired approximately $8.5 billion of assets since inception.
Goodwin’s UK team included partners David Evans, Paul Lyons and Gretchen Scott (Real Estate Industry), associates Gemma Roberts, Toby Young and associate Katie Leah (Tax).
David Evans commented: “This acquisition will be highly complementary to GreenOak’s strategy of delivering outstanding property services and benchmark outperformance. Grafton is an exceptional team and will help GreenOak to expand in the central London property space. The deal is an important sign of market confidence in the London property sector post-Brexit.”