Co-chaired by Jonathan Birks and Kazik Michalski, the Kirkland & Ellis International LLP team specialises in advising borrowers in complex CMBS, mezzanine and European transactions. Birks and Peter Chandler - a debt finance partner - recently worked with leading foreign investment management firms in financing five separate pools of offices in Europe, advising on mezzanine financings and CMBS transactions with significant cross-border elements. Michalski's recent engagements have seen him advising Singaporean sovereign wealth funds and international real estate developers on large acquisition deals for a student accommodation platforms. Yasmin Smedley, who was promoted to partner in October 2023, notably acts for asset management firms on financing transactions in the hospitality and student accommodation sectors.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Key clients

  • LaSalle Investment Management
  • Brookfield
  • TPG Real Estate
  • GIC
  • GLP / GCP
  • Blackstone
  • Node
  • KKR
  • Capital & Regional PLC
  • P3
  • Kennedy Wilson
  • Hudson Pacific Properties
  • Greystar

Work highlights

  • Advised GIC and Greystar on two pools of financings as part of their late 2022 acquisition of purpose-built student accommodation platform, StudentRoost, from Brookfield, for circa £3.3 billion.
  • Represented TPG on a circa £200m “wholeloan” financing sourced from Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS) of its “4i” industrial platform, comprising a portfolio of light industrial properties located in the United Kingdom.
  • Represented Brookfield in the senior (CMBS) and mezzanine financing of the Fedimmo portfolio of office properties in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Lawyers

Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Jonathan Birks, Kazik Michalski

Other key lawyers

Peter Chandler, Yasmin Smedley