Clifford Chance advises Scape Australia on landmark acquisition of Aveo

17 September 2025

Ashkan Khoshab, Anthony Yelavich, Benedict Waterfall, Bridget Clarebrough, Clancy King, Ffion Williams, Henry Garing, Isabelle Cameron, Jae-Ho Kim, Jacinta Wild, Jianxiong Chen, John Karantonis, Julia Rowland, Lisa Jiang, Lizzie White, Libby Berger, Luna Owen, Melanie Ray, Michelle Ma, Sarah Lu, Naomi Griffin, Nicole Backhouse, Nicholas Tzortzis, Philip Podzebenko, Sanjna Pramod, Sophie Alder, Susan Nelson, Thomas Prestwidge, Neil Barlow, Alana McAndrews, Denzyl Ang, Julie Fu,
Sydney, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai

Clifford Chance advises Scape Australia on landmark acquisition of Aveo

Global law firm Clifford Chance has advised Scape Australia on the acquisition of Brookfield’s Aveo retirement living business, marking the largest direct real estate transaction in Australian history.

Clifford Chance also advised on the creation of a fund managed by Scape for its acquisition of Aveo.

Ben Waterfall, Senior Associate at Clifford Chance, commented:
"The acquisition of the Aveo retirement village business marks a transformational expansion of Scape Australia's business. The complexity and international aspects of the transaction highlight our firm’s cross-border capabilities and expertise handling sophisticated transactions."

Philip Podzebenko, Partner at Clifford Chance, added:
"The acquisition demonstrates Scape Australia's ambition and dynamism. It was a pleasure to support the Scape Australia team in this strategic step."

This deal follows a series of recent mandates for Scape Australia, including the transformational conversion of the Scape Core Fund, the merger of two property portfolios, and the successful capital raising of over AU$1 billion in April.

Legal Team

Led by Partner, Philip Podzebenko, Counsel, Johnny Karantonis, and Senior Associate, Benedict Waterfall, the legal team on the transaction comprised:

Sophie Alder (Associate)
Nicole Backhouse (Counsel)
Libby Berger (Associate)
Isabelle Cameron (Senior Associate)
Jianxiong Chen (Senior Associate)
Bridget Clarebrough (Associate)
Henry Garing (Associate)
Naomi Griffin (Partner)
Julia Hegarty (Graduate)
Coby Howell (Graduate)
Lisa Jiang (Senior Associate)
Sunny Jong (Counsel)
Jae-Ho Kim (Associate)
Sho Young Kim (Graduate)
Clancy King (Partner)
Ashkan Khoshab (Associate)
Isabel Lovisi (Graduate)
Michelle Ma (Associate)
Susan Nelson (Graduate)
Luna Owen (Associate)
Sanjna Pramod (Senior Associate)
Thomas Prestwidge (Associate)
Melanie Ray (Senior Associate)
Rachael Robinson (Graduate)
Julia Rowland (Associate)
Nicholas Tzortzis (Associate)
Lizzie White (Associate)
Jacinta Wild (Associate)
Ffion Williams (Senior Associate)
Ashleigh Won (Graduate)
Anthony Yelavich (Senior Associate), and
Jadene Yip (Graduate).

Clifford Chance’s international offices provided cross-border expertise, including:

Neil Barlow (Partner) and Alana McAndrews (Associate) – New York
Denzyl Ang (Associate) – Singapore, and
Julie Fu (Partner), Charmaine Lee and Emily Tong (Associates) – Hong Kong and Shanghai.