August.26.2013
Orrick advised an affiliate of Swiss real estate investment firm Gold Tree on the purchase of the headquarters of prominent German media company SKY Deutschland AG in Unterföhring near Munich from Commerz Real AG in a transaction worth €50 million. Commerz Real had developed the building under a hereditary building right agreement, while ownership of the land the office property was constructed on had remained with the township of Unterföhring.
As part of the deal, Gold Tree and Frankfurt-based Continuum Capital restructured the existing hereditary building right agreement for a new fixed term of 99 years with the option of further extensions. Ownership of the land was transferred to a German pension fund. The value of this transaction was not disclosed.
The sale of the SKY headquarters building represents the successful project completion for developer Commerz Real who had won the bid to construct SKY’s 1,100 employee headquarters in 2008 thanks to its sophisticated architectural design plans and cost effective structural proposal. The building was completed and handed over to SKY in May 2010 after a 6-month planning phase and 21-month construction period. Commerz Real and its interdisciplinary team of experts provided internal construction management services and handled all phases of the project from planning and financing to construction and completion.
Gold Tree Group is an international investment firm based in Zurich with a focus on commercial real estate property investments in Germany and Switzerland. The SKY headquarters acquisition is part of Gold Tree’s strategy to expand its German portfolio of properties with stable lease income from anchor tenants such as SKY Deutschland AG.
The legal team advising Gold Tree on the real estate aspects of the deal was led by Annette Pospich and included Sabine Wieduwilt, Sarah Rössing and Cihangir Agdemir. Dr. Christoph Wetzler continued to advise on the finance and corporate aspects of the deal after his departure.