Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance's continued success at PERE Awards

Clifford Chance has been acknowledged as a leading law firm in fund formation, picking up two prestigious awards at the 2011 Global Private Equity Real Estate (PERE) Awards ceremony held in London.

The firm's real estate funds work in Europe and North America has been recognised with the following wins:

• European Law Firm of the Year (Fund Formation)
• North America Law Firm of the Year (Fund Formation)

The PERE Global Awards are voted for by the industry itself, with thousands of votes cast and this is the fifth consecutive year that Clifford Chance has been awarded European Law Firm of the Year (Fund Formation).  The firm has also acted as counsel to various clients who were shortlisted or won awards.

In its awards editorial, PERE magazine stated that Clifford Chance is the "mainstay of the award for fund formation work by law firms in Europe" achieving the majority of votes. It also noted how busy the Clifford Chance New York office has been over the last year, where the funds formation practice has worked on a impressive 12 US real estate fund launches.

The award wins highlight the strength of the Clifford Chance Real Estate Fund Formation practice which is ranked in Tier 1 of Chambers & Partners Global, the sole firm to be listed in this top category.

Roger Singer, Head of the firm’s US private funds group, comments:

"Real estate fund formation really showcases the strengths of a firm like ours – leading fund formation practices across the globe working on inherently cross-border fundraisings in an industry in which we also have a leading investment transaction practice."

As referenced by PERE magazine, the firm's international network has been involved in a number of high-profile transactions in the private equity real estate space, including:

• Legal & General Property on its UK Income Fund, a vehicle which has an innovative aspect to it which allows investors to choose the level of leverage they want
• Altarea Codegim’s €600 million value-added vehicle in France. This is one of the largest dedicated office property funds in the Paris region, as well as a first in terms of a fund of this size by an operating company
• AllianceBernstein Recovery Asset Fund, a debt fund targeting $750 million in commitments
• Capital Partners’ C-III Recovery Fund which raised $209 million toward a $300 million target last year
• Exeter Property Group’s second core industrial fund which amassed $300 million, with a fundraising goal of $550 million
• Madison International’s fourth fund, which closed on $510 million
• Taconic Investment Partners’ New York City Investment Fund, a value-add and opportunistic vehicle targeting multifamily, office and retail assets in New York City that held a single $220 million close

For further information about this release contact:

Mark Payne, Partner                             Roger Singer, Partner
+44 (0)20 7006 2726                          +1 212 878 3288

Diane Cains, Business Development
+44 (0)20 7006 1477