Real Estate Transactions & Investments

Understanding values,
enabling transactions.

Today, interest in real estate transactions is stronger than ever before, attracting the attention not only of institutional investors and commercial investors, but also of the government and the general public. The economic environment in recent years has brought about a steady increase in demand for good investment opportunities in the field of real estate – a level of demand which has remained consistently high now for a considerable length of time. 

The greater volume of transactions, the speed with which they are completed and an increasing number of regulations call for special expertise and experience when it comes to legal advice. As one of Germany’s leading law firms for real estate, the team here at GSK Stockmann specialises in providing legal advice on all property matters. Owing to our expertise and excellent networks, major market players in the real estate industry rely on our services. 

Main areas of expertise

After gaining an in-depth understanding of the core commercial aspects of your transactions, we focus on creating a pragmatic and legally watertight framework for their completion. Our legal team comprises around 200 lawyers, of which more than 100 specialise in real estate.

In other words, we have the largest real estate team in Germany – and sufficient capacities to cope with large-volume transactions, no matter how tight the deadlines. In addition, many of our partners number amongst Germany’s leading legal advisers in the fields of real estate and transactions.

We offer comprehensive advice for all types of real estate transactions, asset deals, share deals, sale-and-leaseback transactions, and for the acquisition or sale of large-volume portfolios and complex non-performing loans. Our expertise covers all types of real estate – from offices, apartments and retail premises through to special buildings such as hotels, shopping centres, logistics facilities and nursing homes, etc. Our teams work hand in hand to ensure all aspects of your transaction are covered. In order to create the optimum structure for your transaction and offer you the best possible advice, we solicit the support of experts in the relevant fields – real estate law, sales law, tenancy law, public law, corporate law and tax law.

We support our clients through each and every phase of a transaction. In the event of cross-border transactions, we work closely with select law firms in the respective countries. 

We have particular expertise in the following areas:

  • Planning, structuring, organising and managing purchase and sale processes in asset and share deals, including forward deals and portfolio transactions 
  • Corporate and tax (re)structuring for acquisitions and/or transactions following the respective purchase or sale
  • Providing advice and support in creating data rooms for sales processes
  • Drafting and negotiating non-disclosure agreements and letters of intent (heads of terms)
  • Preparing and conducting due diligence checks (legal audits, tax audits) before acquisitions or sales 
  • Evaluating and acting upon the results of due diligence checks (negotiating the relevant clauses in purchase deeds in order to hedge risks; drafting and negotiating addenda, e.g., codicils to rent agreements)
  • Drafting and negotiating purchase agreements
  • Providing advice and support in the execution of purchase agreements (post-closing issues, e.g., drawing up a post-signing checklist) 

Joint ventures in the field of real estate – particularly those between project developers and investors – are becoming increasingly common. The advantage for project developers lies in having sufficient capital; investors (banks, private equity funds etc.) benefit from getting on board at an early date.

The challenge lies in optimising the joint venture structure with regard to tax law, while still taking into account the varied interests of the parties involved.

We have particular expertise in the following areas:

  • Creating joint venture concepts under corporate law
  • Tax structuring 
  • Involving investors
  • Dispute resolution/shareholder disputes
  • Financing

The trick is finding the optimal arrangement in terms of tax law and an appropriate balance between the different interests within the joint venture structure.

We have particular expertise in the following areas:

  • Corporate restructuring for projects and transactions
  • Tax structuring (particularly with regard to property tax, land transfer tax and trade tax)
  • Negotiating and drafting contracts for share deals and joint ventures
  • Involving investors and lenders
  • Structuring investor/lender financing 
  • Drafting and negotiating lender documents
  • Restructuring/reorganising real estate companies
  • Restructuring real estate involvement in the event of pending insolvency
  • Resolving disputes and shareholder disputes

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