The Legal 500

Castrén & Snellman’s lengthy résumé includes advising Sponda plc on its €122m purchase of the Fennia Quarter of Helsinki’s business district from Suomi Mutual Life Assurance, possibly the largest real estate transaction of 2011. Former head of transactions Anu Tuomola left the firm to go in-house, but partners Uwe Uusitalo, Matias Wallgren and Tapio Teräkivi provide an ‘excellent service which is reliable and dedicated to achieving results’.

Hannes Snellman Attorneys at Law Ltd has been busy advising investor clients such as Sagax and ING Real Estate, and advised Sveafastigheter Fund III on multiple transactions, including the €50m purchase of ten retail properties with deal partner Mattila & Saxen Property Partners. However, the team is in a state of flux after head of real estate Nicolas Berner departed in 2011, and was followed shortly afterwards by his successor Christoffer Charpentier, who moved to the newly established firm Avance Attorneys Ltd.

Roschier boasts a strong following among developer and real estate investor clients, including major international funds such as UBS Real Estate Kapitalanlagegesellschaft, which the firm advised on buying a €40m logistics centre; and Amplion Asset Management, which it is advising on the €100m acquisition of 49 retail properties by its private equity fund, ARIF I Ky. Mika Alanko heads this ‘efficient’ and ‘hands-on’ team.

White & Case is a regular in headline real estate transactions and financings. Timo Airisto and Tanja Törnkvist take the lead on the majority of matters, such as advising Nordea Bank Finland on significant asset sales of the office and retail portfolio of ANL Kiinteistöt 1 KY, a property fund managed by Amplion Asset Management.

Bird & Bird has an extensive real estate portfolio that includes construction and development projects. It handled the land acquisition, planning, zoning, financing and construction of a hotel and private homes development for construction company Hangon Rantakiinteistöt. Jaakko Hietala heads the practice, with Pekka Raatikainen leading on construction matters.

Attorneys at law Borenius Ltd expanded its ‘talented’ real estate group by establishing the adjunct of a ‘superb’ environmental and infrastructure team led by Casper Herler. Christian Fogelholm, head of real estate transactions and energy, led advice to Citycon on its acquisition of Espagalleria, manager of the lease portfolio of Kämp Galleria, a deluxe shopping centre in Helsinki.

Dittmar & Indrenius handles high-value and complex transactions, and acted on Hansainvest’s €56.5m acquisition of Helsinki’s Triotto Business Park from YIT Construction. Practice head Antti Aaltonen and standout partner Raija-Leena Ojanen are the key figures.

Hammarström Puhakka Partners, Attorneys Ltd’s diverse clients appreciate the team’s fast response times and ‘very professional manner’, particularly Jari Tuomala for real estate transactions and developments; and Kari Marttinen for environmental, planning and zoning matters. Clients include Sveafastigheter, which the firm advised on a series of site acquisitions in the port of HaminaKotka.

Krogerus has ‘much deeper knowledge of the real estate business than some other law firms’, and represents numerous real estate investment funds, such as Exillon Real Estate I Ky, which it advised on the €85m purchase of a high-rise office building in the Ruoholahti district of Helsinki. Samuli Palin and Juha Wessman are ‘excellent’.

Merilampi’s impressive team advised on two of the largest transactions of 2011: it acted for Suomi Mutual Life Assurance on the €122m sale of the Fennia Quarter to Sponda, and represented the sellers in the €85m Ruoholahti office building sale. Teemu Kauttu is ‘very professional’.

Bützow’s national presence keeps it in demand for construction and real estate work. The firm has advised Danish real estate investor EU Invest on multiple property acquisitions, including the purchase of property under construction in metropolitan Helsinki.

Eero Kajander at HH Partners, Attorneys-at-Law, Ltd has over 30 years’ experience of real estate work, including construction disputes and contractual matters. Markku Korvenmaa acted for YIT Kiinteistöteknikka Oy in a number of construction disputes.

Real estate and construction, including environmental law, are areas of focus at Juridia Ltd Attorneys-At-Law, where Ilkka Koivisto heads a substantial team. Recent assignments include a major residential construction project in Helsinki’s Kalasatama district.

The work of Juha Mäkitalo and his team at Mäkitalo Rantanen & Co Ltd is ‘excellently executed’. The group excels in construction law advice, and has been acting for Lahti Energia on the construction of a €157m waste gasification plant in Lahti. It also regularly advises the real estate unit of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Although primarily a finance and corporate boutique, Waselius & Wist advises on some property transactions, particularly in the industrial sector. Jan Waselius advised Albany International on selling industrial property to Kiinteistö Oy Helsingin Ruosilantie 10, part of the Sampo Group.