2011 Global PERE Awards

Last year turned out to be a year of uncertainty for the
private equity real estate industry, as a barely averted
debt default by the US and a growing sovereign debt
crisis in Europe caused hesitancy and deliberateness
among LPs and GPs alike. Still, some firm and investors
were able to find opportunity amid the chaos, particularly
if they were well-known, had a lot of capital
at their disposal and/or had a long, successful track
record in the industry.
So, which firms, individuals and deals stood out from
the crowd in 2011?
In an attempt to answer that question, we scoured our
website and other real estate news sources to come
up with a slate of finalists, which were vetted and then
put to a vote by the readers of PERE and perenews.
com. And vote they did, in the thousands.
While last year’s awards seemed to indicate a changing
of the guard, this year’s voting demonstrated a
return to marquee names like The Blackstone Group.
Indeed, the New York-based private equity and real
estate titan racked up an impressive eight awards
for 2011, missing out on just one category for which
it was nominated. Other industry stalwarts like CBRE
Global Investors, Fortress Investment Group, APG Asset
Management and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
also won awards, although newer players weren’t
completely shut out, managing to snag an award
here and there.
So, without further ado, we present the results of the
2011 Global PERE Awards, along with mini profiles on
the winning firms and individuals.

GLOBAL pg. 8
GLOBAL INDUSTRY FIGURE OF THE YEAR
Jonathan Gray and Chad Pike,
The Blackstone Group
GLOBAL FIRM OF THE YEAR
The Blackstone Group
GLOBAL DEAL OF THE YEAR
CB Richard Ellis’
$1 billion takeover of ING REIM’s global platform
NORTH AMERICA pg. 12
NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY FIGURE OF THE YEAR
Jonathan Gray, The Blackstone Group
NORTH AMERICA FIRM OF THE YEAR
The Blackstone Group
NORTH AMERICA DEAL OF THE YEAR
The Blackstone Group’s
$9.4 billion purchase of Centro Properties’ US portfolio
NORTH AMERICA CAPITAL RAISE OF THE YEAR
The Blackstone Group,
Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII
NORTH AMERICA PLACEMENT AGENT OF THE YEAR
Park Hill Real Estate Group
EUROPE pg. 18
EUROPE INDUSTRY FIGURE OF THE YEAR
Patrick Kanters, APG Asset Management
EUROPE FIRM OF THE YEAR
The Blackstone Group
EUROPE DEAL OF THE YEAR
The Blackstone Group’s
£480 million acquisition of Chiswick Park
EUROPE CAPITAL RAISE OF THE YEAR
Pramerica Real Estate Investors,
Pramerica Real Estate Capital 1 Fund
EUROPE PLACEMENT AGENT OF THE YEAR
Credit Suisse Real Estate Private Fund Group
PERE | 2011 AWARDS & ANNUAL REVIEW
MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA FIRM OF THE YEAR
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
LATIN AMERICA FIRM OF THE YEAR
Equity International
NORTH AMERICA INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR OF YEAR
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
NORTH AMERICA FUND OF FUNDS/SECONDARIES FIRM
OF THE YEAR
Landmark Partners
NORTH AMERICA DEBT PROVIDER OF THE YEAR
Deutsche Bank
NORTH AMERICA LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR
(TRANSACTIONS)
Weil, Gotshal & Manges
NORTH AMERICA LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR
(FUND FORMATION)
Clifford Chance
EUROPE INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR OF THE YEAR
APG Asset Management
EUROPE FUND OF FUNDS/SECONDARIES FIRM
OF THE YEAR
Partners Group
EUROPE DEBT PROVIDER OF THE YEAR
Deutsche Bank
EUROPE LAW OF THE YEAR (FUND FORMATION)
Clifford Chance
EUROPE LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (TRANSACTIONS)
Nabarro

ASIA pg. 23
ASIA INDUSTRY FIGURE OF THE YEAR
Andie Kang,
National Pension Service of Korea
ASIA FIRM OF THE YEAR
Fortress Investment Group
ASIA DEAL OF THE YEAR
Invesco Real Estate’s
takeover of AIG Global Real Estate’s Asia business
ASIA CAPITAL RAISE OF THE YEAR
Arch Capital Management,
ARCH Capital -TRG Asian Partners fund
ASIA PLACEMENT AGENT OF THE YEAR
Macquarie Capital Advisors
ASIA INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR OF THE YEAR
Government of Singapore Investment
Corporation
ASIA FUND OF FUNDS/SECONDARIES FIRM
OF THE YEAR
CBRE Global Investors
ASIA DEBT PROVIDER OF THE YEAR
Standard Chartered Bank
ASIA LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR
(FUND FORMATION)
Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker
ASIA LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR
(TRANSACTIONS)
Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker

GLOBAL
INDUSTRY FIGURE OF THE YEAR
1 Jonathan Gray and Chad Pike,
The Blackstone Group
2 Matt Khourie, CBRE Global Investors
3 John Grayken, Lone Star Funds
Gray: now the sole head
of real estate
Pike: taking on a new role
Jonathan Gray and Chad Pike,
global co-heads of real estate at The
Blackstone Group, led the firm’s
worldwide property team through an
extremely busy year. More impressively,
the New York-based private
equity and real estate giant engaged
in a series of ambitious deals during
a year in which many fund managers
were exercising caution and
restraint.
Under their joint leadership,
Blackstone’s real estate group not
only launched Blackstone Real Estate
Partners (BREP) VII, a global opportunistic
mega-fund targeting more
than $10 billion, but it already closed
on $6 billion in equity commitments
from a diverse group of institutional
investors. The firm also closed on a
number of deals, including the $9.4
billion purchase of Centro Properties’
US mall portfolio, the $950 million
purchase of the UK-based Mint
hotel chain and the £480 million acquisition of Chiswick Park
in London.
In the wake of such a busy year, Blackstone recently
realigned its real estate team as the firm looks to increase its
focus on Europe. Pike has assumed a new role as vice chairman
of Blackstone Europe, where he will spend more of his
time on the strategic direction and growth of the firm’s entire
business in the region. However, he will continue his close
involvement with real estate, identifying opportunities for a
new tactical opportunities mandate, as well as BREP VII. He
also will remain on the firm’s real estate investment committee.
Pike, who is based in London, joined Blackstone in 1995
and has overseen the acquisition of more than $20 billion of
assets in the US, Europe and Asia on behalf of Blackstone’s
real estate funds.
As a result of that shift, Gray, based in New York, will
become the sole global head of real estate. Gray has been
with Blackstone since 1992 and has led the privatisation of 11
public real estate companies valued at more than $100 billion,
including Extended Stay America, Carr America, Equity Office
Properties and Hilton Hotels.
These deals – and many, many more (as you will see from
a number of subsequent award categories won by Blackstone)
–helped contribute to Gray and Pike being named Global
Industry Figure of the Year for 2011.
PERE | 2011 AWARDS & ANNUAL REVIEW
GLOBAL
FIRM OF THE YEAR
1 The Blackstone Group
2 CBRE Global Investors
3 Lone Star Funds
For the second year in
a row, The Blackstone
Group takes home the
award for Global Firm
of the Year. Perhaps one
of the primary reasons
why it did so well is
because the New Yorkbased
firm managed to
be the exception that
proved the rule in the
private equity real estate
business during the past
year. Indeed, at a time
when the assumption
was that mega-funds
would become extinct,
Blackstone not only
launched a $10 billion
global opportunistic
Blackstone’s HQ, New York:
fund but succeeded in
command central
closing on $4.7 billion
in commitments for it within a matter of months. (To date,
Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII has raised $6 billion.)
The real estate group at Blackstone, co-led by Jonathan
Gray in New York and Chad Pike in London, also engaged in
a number of brash deals in 2011 that helped solidify its global
reputation. For example, in February, it was announced that
the firm had purchased Centro Properties’ US mall portfolio
for $9.4 billion in one of the biggest deals since the global
financial crisis began. The deal, which saw the Australian
retail property company sell its 600-strong US retail portfolio
to Blackstone, also helped bring the $10.9 billion Blackstone
Real Estate Partners VI fund closer to being fully invested.
That’s not all. It was revealed in April that Blackstone had
agreed to buy Chiswick Park, one of Britain’s largest office
parks, from Schroders for £480 million (€578 million, $787
million). In addition, in September, it was revealed that
the private equity giant bought UK-based Mint Hotels for
$950 million, beating out a rival bid from TPG Capital and
expanding its hotel portfolio. Blackstone, which owns the
Hilton Worldwide chain of hotels, took over Mint’s eight
four-star properties, consisting of seven in the UK and one in
Amsterdam.
Transactions like these – and the rapid accumulation of
equity for one of the largest real estate opportunistic funds in
the market –helped contribute to Blackstone becoming a twotime
recipient of the Global Firm of the Year award.

GLOBAL
DEAL OF THE YEAR
1 CB Richard Ellis’ $1 billion
takeover of ING REIM’s global
platform
2 The $10 billion acquisition of Anglo Irish
Bank’s US loan portfolio by Lone Star
Funds, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan
3 Invesco Real Estate’s takeover of AIG’s
Asia business
It isn’t every day when a transaction catapults a
real estate investment management firm to the top,
but that’s exactly what happened when CB Richard
Ellis (CBRE), the world’s largest commercial
real estate services firm, bought ING Real Estate
Investment Management (REIM) from the Dutch
banking and insurance giant ING Group in 2011.
With the mammoth deal, the Los Angeles-based
firm’s real estate investment management business,
CBRE Investors, took a giant leap, going from an
entity with a respectable $38 billion in total assets
under management to the world’s largest real estate
investment management firm, overseeing $94.1 billion
in AUM at the end of 2011.
The takeover of the giant ING REIM platform
– first put up for sale in June 2010 – involved three
installments. It began with CBRE closing on the
acquisition of ING Clarion Real Estate Securities
in July, followed by the completion of the acquisitions
of ING REIM Asia and Europe in October.
The firm then merged the ING REIM businesses
with CBRE Investors to form CBRE Global Investors,
which is led by global president Matt Khourie.
CBRE financed the purchase of the three businesses,
which had a total price tag of about $900
million, with cash on hand and borrowings under
its secured credit facility, including $800 million of
new bank debt that was raised specifically for the
purchase.
The acquisition significantly expanded the global
footprint of CBRE Global Investors, which now has
more than 1,100 employees in 22 countries. The
jewel in the ING REIM crown is viewed by some to
be the Asia business, which is said to have the highest
growth potential as well as a strong performing
fund. At a PERE conference last year, Khourie said
CBRE Global Investors intended to ramp up its
Asia operations and increase that business’ AUM to
be “a multiple” of its current $5 billion over the next
four to five years. He also predicted the firm would
be more active in Germany and Nordic countries
such as Norway and Sweden, which he called “one
of the best-performing regions in the world.”
MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA
FIRM OF THE YEAR
1 Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
2 Qatar Investment Authority
3 Kuwait Investment Authority
As much as the giant sovereign wealth
fund of the United Arab Emirates
wants its investments to happen under
the radar, the sheer size of the Abu
Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA)
makes that wish somewhat impossible.
Having mostly sidelined its
third-party funds programme in 2009 Beijing: ADIA invested heavily in China
in favour of taking a more direct path,
ADIA has been slowly stapling itself to various macroeconomic themes it
considers both profitable and sustainable.
PERE learned of ADIA’s participation in two large joint ventures expected
to directly benefit from China’s growing consumption. The larger
of the two was a $1 billion investment in a Chinese retail real estate vehicle
of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets. Initially expected to be a
follow-up to the firm’s Wanda Real Estate Fund, ADIA wanted such a large
exposure to the sector and Macquarie’s programme in particular that it
ultimately became the sole investor.
Not content with China’s shops, ADIA also secured a large joint venture
partnership with a view to buying the properties that stock them. The sovereign
team up with AMB Property, investing approximately $500 million
into an entity called HIP China Logistics Investments.
LATIN AMERICA
FIRM OF THE YEAR
1 Equity International
2 Prosperitas Investimentos
3 Patria Investimentos
A Terranum project: Equity Interna-
Literally and figuratively, Equity
tional’s entry into Colombia
International was all over the map
in Latin America in 2011. Early in the year, the Chicago-based investment
management company closed on a $58 million capital infusion into
GuardeAqui, a self-storage company based in Sao Paulo. The move added
a sixth Brazilian company to the firm’s portfolio and marked its entry into
a fast-growing real estate segment in the country.
In August, Equity International, which has been investing in Latin
America since 1999, announced its first foray into Colombia, injecting $75
million into Terranum Development, a Bogota-based corporate real estate
company with a pipeline of opportunities in Colombia and the surrounding
region, including Costa Rica, Panama and Peru. “Colombia represents
one of the most compelling new investment frontiers,” chief executive
Gary Garrabrant said at the time.
Shortly thereafter, the firm announced the closing of Equity International
Fund V, the fifth in a series of investment funds that target
companies representing a broad range of real estate-related sectors. Fund
V’s close on $650 million in commitments represented the firm’s largest
fundraising to date.
2011 AWARDS & ANNUAL REVIEW | PERE

NORTH AMERICA
INDUSTRY FIGURE OF THE YEAR
1 Jonathan Gray, The Blackstone Group
2 Andre Collin, Lone Star Funds
3 Steve Furnary, Clarion Partners
What can we say about the man behind the firm that is winning awards
for most of the categories it was nominated in? Plenty it seems as, under
Jonathan Gray’s leadership, there were more than enough transactions
and capital feats of note at The Blackstone Group last year.
One example is Blackstone selling a portfolio of 29 Canadian office
buildings to Dundee Real Estate Investment Trust for $881 million over
the summer. The sale occurred after the New York-based private equity
giant had upgraded and refurbished the properties, turning them from
Gray: led the
Class B to Class A assets. One source predicted that Blackstone’s investors Americas team
could see an IRR of 23 percent as a result of that deal.
In November, Gray’s team entered talks with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing to take
control of a portfolio of 16 distressed US office properties owned by Morgan Stanley Real Estate
Fund V valued at $800 million. The following month, Blackstone also agreed to purchase
a portfolio of nine commercial real estate loans valued at $300 million from Eurohypo, the
troubled commercial real estate finance unit of Germany’s Commerzbank, on behalf of its
Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII fund.
In an earnings call in October, Blackstone’s chief executive officer Steve Schwarzman said:
“We are the best-positioned investor in the developed world.” Despite the fact that the firm
had reported a net loss on income and real estate revenue during the quarter in question, he
had good reason to be haughty, thanks in large part to Gray and his real estate team.
NORTH AMERICA
DEAL OF THE YEAR
1 The Blackstone Group’s $9.4 billion purchase of Centro
Properties’ US portfolio
2 The $10 billion acquisition of Anglo Irish Bank’s US loan portfolio
by Lone Star Funds, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan
3 Brookfield Asset Management’s takeover of three luxury resorts
You already know about the majority of its private equity real estate deals, but Blackstone
trumped all of them with its $9.4 billion purchase of the US assets of Centro Properties Group.
The acquisition gave the New York-based private equity and real estate giant control of the
troubled Australian retail property owner’s 92.1 million-square-foot US mall portfolio, as well
as a US property management business comprising 18 offices and 600 employees. In exchange,
Centro was able to pay off all of its US debt and more than $1 billion of its Australian liabilities,
ultimately allowing its Australian business to continue as a separate entity.
With its winning bid, Blackstone prevailed over industry rivals that included joint ventures
led by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, Starwood Capital Group and Paulson & Co.
Blackstone invested $2.35 billion of equity in the deal, including $1.04 billion from its $10.9
billion Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI fund and $1.31 billion from co-investors such as
Allstate Real Estate Investment Group. It also assumed $5.4 billion in securitised debt, with
new financing accounting for the remainder.
Blackstone’s basis of $102 per square foot for the acquisition represented a 40 percent
discount to replacement costs. However, the $9.4 billion that the firm paid for the assets was
just $100 million less than their book value at the end of Centro’s previous fiscal year on 30
June 2010. At the time, the portfolio’s 585 shopping centres, which were located in 39 states
across the US, were generating a decline in net operating income of 4.2 percent and a decline
in rental income of 2 percent. Blackstone hoped to reverse that slide.
PERE | 2011 AWARDS & ANNUAL REVIEW
NORTH AMERICA
FIRM OF THE YEAR
1 The Blackstone
Group
2 Lone Star Funds
3 Clarion Partners
The winner of the Global Firm of
the Year award wound up being
named North America Firm
of the Year as well. You would
think there must be a limit to
how much more one can say
about The Blackstone Group
given that it has swept a number
of categories this year, but the
firm’s prolific investment pace in
2011 offers plenty of fodder.
In addition to such massive
transactions as the signature
acquisition of Centro Properties’
$9.4 billion US mall portfolio
(see the entry for North America
Deal of the Year to the left),
Blackstone entered into a number
of impressive transactions
last year. In fact, there were too
many to recount in one entry (so
it’s a good thing Blackstone won
so many awards this year)!
For example, in the final
quarter of 2011, Blackstone
agreed to acquire a 10.1 millionsquare-foot
office portfolio from
Duke Realty for $1.08 billion,
in what turned out to be one
of the first investments for its
Blackstone Real Estate Partners
VII fund. The purchase price of
$107 per square foot represented
a 40 percent discount to replacement
costs.
Another noteworthy deal by
Blackstone was its September
acquisition of 36 southeastern
US shopping centres for $473.1
million from North Miami
Beach, Florida-based shopping
centre development firm Equity
One. The purchase price included
the assumption of mortgage
loans with an aggregate principal
balance of approximately
$177.4 million.

NORTH AMERICA
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR OF YEAR
1 Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
2 New York State Common Retirement Fund
3 Allstate Real Estate Investment Group
To characterise the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) as busy this
past year is akin to describing the sun as warm. In 2011, the Toronto-based investment
arm of the $153.8 billion Canada Pension Plan was relentless in its investment
activities – far too many deals to recount here.
Indeed, CPPIB has been one of the more aggressive investors in global real estate
since the financial crisis. In 2011, the pension fund went on a US buying spree, was
active in Europe and made its first direct real estate investment in Hong Kong. It invested
solo and alongside other large institutional investors, including Netherlandsbased
APG and the China Investment Corporation.
Some exemplary investments include the acquisition of eight large US office and
retail properties in August, obtaining a 36.9 percent stake in a portfolio of 13 New
England shopping centres for C$339 million (€260 million, $341 million) in May,
acquiring an Australian mall for C$470 million in June, purchasing a 50 percent
stake in a German shopping centre for C$371 million in May and buying a 50
percent stake in Hong Kong Interlink, a 2.4 million-square-foot industrial development,
from Sydney-based Goodman Group for C$285 million in June.
In recognition of all that activity, CPPIB was named North America Institutional
Investor of the Year.
NORTH AMERICA
CAPITAL RAISE OF THE YEAR
1 The Blackstone Group, Blackstone Real Estate
Partners VII
2 Lone Star Funds, Lone State Real Estate Fund II
3 The Carlyle Group, Carlyle Realty Partners VI
Although the competition in the mega-fund bracket was surprisingly stiff, there was
only going to be one winner. When The Blackstone Group announced its intentions
in early 2011 to raise another $10 billion global real estate vehicle, the news raised
quite a few eyebrows in the private equity real estate industry. After all, Blackstone
Real Estate Partners (BREP) VII was coming to market at a time when investors had
grown increasingly wary of mega-funds, favoring smaller, more targeted vehicles.
The New York private equity and real estate giant, however, quickly proved its
fundraising might when it held a $4 billion first close just four months after officially
launching the fund. Limited partners included the New Jersey Division of Investment
and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System, each of
which committed $300 million to the vehicle. Subsequent interim closings brought
additional investors such as the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois
into the fold, taking the total amount of capital raised to $6 billion
by year’s end. BREP VII is due for a final close later this year.
Meanwhile, Blackstone has wasted no time putting that
money to work. By the end of December, the firm had closed on
three real estate deals on behalf of BREP VII, including the
$473.1 million purchase of 36 US shopping centers from Equity
One, the purchase of a 10.1 million-square-foot suburban
office portfolio from Duke Realty for $1.08 billion and the
acquisition of a $300 million loan portfolio from troubled
German bank Eurohypo.
NORTH AMERICA
PLACEMENT AGENT OF THE YEAR
1 Park Hill Real Estate Group
2 Mercury Capital Advisors
3 Greenhill Real Estate Capital
Advisory Group
As an affiliate of The
Blackstone Group,
Park Hill Real Estate
Group is best known
for assisting the New
York private equity
giant on capital raises
for its funds. Indeed,
Purse: more than
the placement agent
just BREP VII
currently is marketing
Blackstone’s latest global real estate
opportunity fund, Blackstone Real Estate
Partners (BREP) VII, which has attracted
a long list of investors that include the
New Jersey Division of Investment, the
Pennsylvania Public School Employees’
Retirement System and the Teachers’ Retirement
System of the State of Illinois.
BREP VII, which officially launched in
April, has raised more than $6 billion to
date and is on track to become the world’s
largest real estate fund, surpassing its
$10.9 billion predecessor fund, BREP VI.
BREP VII is expected to hold a final close
later this year.
Still, Park Hill does not live on Blackstone
alone. The firm, led by managing
principal Charles Purse, also acted as
placement agent for Savanna’s second
opportunistic office fund, which closed
on $550 million in March, exceeding its
original target of $400 million. Among the
limited partners that made commitments
to Savanna Real Estate Fund II were the
Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund and
the New York State Common Retirement
Fund.
Park Hill also advised Jamestown, an
Atlanta-based real estate investment and
management company, on its Jamestown
Premier Property Fund, which focuses
on the acquisition of income-producing
office and retail properties in top-tier US
cities. The open-ended core-plus vehicle,
together with several co-investment
vehicles, closed on $900 million of equity
in 2011.
2011 AWARDS & ANNUAL REVIEW | PERE

NORTH AMERICA
FUND OF FUNDS/SECONDARIES FIRM OF THE YEAR
1 Landmark Partners
2 Madison International
3 Cohen & Steers
In 2011, Landmark Partners led the way in taking
advantage of a market that was, according
to the firm’s chief executive Francisco Borges, in
the early innings of its evolution. How exactly
did Landmark take advantage of the sector? The
Connecticut-based private equity and real estate
investment manager wound up raising one of the
largest single-pooled real estate secondaries funds
in the world.
In April, Landmark Real Estate Fund VI closed
Borges: secondary
on $718 million in equity commitments – virtu-
to none
ally unheard of in this segment of the industry.
Rival firms such as Liquid Realty Partners, Madison International Realty
and Partners Group all sought to take advantage of the secondaries market
with new vehicles as well, but clearly Landmark led the way with its
ground-breaking Fund VI.
Upon closing, Borges revealed that 20 percent of Fund VI’s capital already
had been committed, revealing two things. One, there is no shortage
of investment opportunities for the fund, and two that Landmark knows
where to find them.
NORTH AMERICA
LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR
(TRANSACTIONS)
1 Weil, Gotshal & Manges
2 Kirkland & Ellis
3 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
This year, the global law firm of Weil, Gotshal &
Manges beat out last year’s winner Kirkland &
Ellis for the title of North America Law Firm of
the Year for transactions. Considering that the
firm was involved in some of the largest deals in
North America last year, it’s not that surprising.
For example, Weil, Gotshal & Manges represented
Centro Properties Group in a deal that
helped The Blackstone Group garner multiple
awards this year: the $9.4 billion acquisition of
Centro’s portfolio of 588 US shopping centres.
Not only that, the law firm represented
Silverpeak Real Estate Partners in a deal in
December, whereby the Dubai Investment
Group engaged Silverpeak to provide real estate
investment management services related to its
$1.1 billion commercial real estate portfolio of
30 hotel, office and retail properties in the US
and Germany.
PERE | 2011 AWARDS & ANNUAL REVIEW
NORTH AMERICA
LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (FUND FORMATION)
1 Clifford Chance
2 Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
3 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
NORTH AMERICA
DEBT PROVIDER OF THE YEAR
1 Deutsche Bank
2 TIAA-CREF
3 CBRE Capital Investors
The real estate fund formation practice at Clifford
Chance, led by Roger Singer, had a busy year in 2011.
The law firm, which is based in London but has US
offices in New York and Washington, DC, advised
While Deutsche Bank’s commercial real estate
lending group provides loans and credit facilities
for private equity firms, public corporations
and individuals owning or acquiring commercial
properties around the world, it is the bank’s
activity in North America that garnered it this
award.
One of the bank’s marquee financings in 2011
was its role in the restructuring of $1.42 billion
of debt coming due on a 168-hotel portfolio
owned by Goldman Sachs Group’s Whitehall
funds. While the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
poured $475 million into the portfolio in
exchange for a preferred equity stake, Deutsche
Bank provided a five-year, $975 million loan to
refinance the debt and give Whitehall an additional
$30 million for closing costs and other
expenses. The refinancing eliminated impending
due dates for debt on 138 hotels that Whitehall
acquired from hotel owner Gary Tharaldson in
2006, as well as 30 mid-sized hotels purchased
from the former CNL Hotels & Resorts in 2007.
Singer: busy setting
up funds
on 12 US real estate fund launches last year, including the AllianceBernstein
Recovery Asset Fund, a debt fund targeting $750 million in commitments.
Clifford Chance also worked on 11 real estate fund closings that raised
a total of more than $2 billion in aggregate capital. These included first
closes for C-III Capital Partners’ C-III Recovery Fund in August and Exeter
Property Group’s second core industrial fund in May. C-III Recovery Fund
raised $209 million toward a $300 million target last year, while Exeter
Industrial Value Fund II amassed $300 million, with a fundraising goal of
$550 million.
Among final closings, Clifford Chance assisted with Madison International’s
fourth fund, which closed on $510 million in February, as well as
Taconic Investment Partners’ New York City Investment Fund, a value-add
and opportunistic vehicle targeting multifamily, office and retail assets in
New York City that held a single $220 million close in August.

EUROPE
DEAL OF THE YEAR
1 The Blackstone Group’s
£480 million acquisition
of Chiswick Park
2 The privatisation of Minerva by AREA
Property Partners and Delancey
3 Kennedy Wilson’s purchase of the
Bank of Ireland’s investment management
business
There were many European transactions that
stood out in 2011, so it was hard for readers to
single out just one. California-based Kennedy
Wilson, for example, was a virtual unknown in
Europe until it suddenly announced the takeover
of Bank of Ireland Real Estate Investment
Management and followed that up with an
agreement to buy a $1.8 billion loan portfolio
from the troubled Irish bank.
Chiswick Park: plenty of upside
If one didn’t like that, there was the team of
AREA Property Partners and Delancey, which
engineered the first privatisation of a UK
property company since 2007. The pair worked
together to buy Minerva for an estimated £200
million (€228 million; $324 million) in equity
and the assumption of £800 million in debt.
Then again, there was The Blackstone
Group’s purchase of Chiswick Park in west
London for approximately £480 million. In the
fullness of time, this deal, which ultimately
won the category, could become recognised as
a great deal. Not only did the firm manage to
get the asset at a good discount to replacement
cost, it has since managed to raise rents at the
property from £32.50 per square foot to £40
per square foot.
The Chiswick Park acquisition also had a
‘first’ about it, as it was financed by the first
securitisation in Europe since the global
financial crisis. Deutsche Bank arranged the
financing and was tasked with marketing the
securitisation.
EUROPE
INDUSTRY FIGURE OF THE YEAR
1 Patrick Kanters, APG Asset
Management
2 Simon Marrison and Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz,
LaSalle Investment Management
Kanters: influential
3 Leon Bressler, Perella Weinberg
globetrotter
When one reads the entry for Europe Institutional Investor
of the Year, one can see why APG Asset Management’s global head of real
estate Patrick Kanters has had such an influence on the industry. When he
wasn’t fighting for better corporate governance, he was leading large-scale club
deals and direct property ventures around the world.
The source of all this activity likely stems from a decision by APG’s primary
pension fund client, Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, to increase its allocation to
real estate from 8 percent to 10 percent a couple of years ago. APG believes this
is the right time to do so because investment now will provide decent returns
in the future.
An interview with PERE in April 2008 also affords a fascinating glimpse of
how Kanters sees the world. For one, he is not a fan of ‘allocators’, saying: “Our
view is that operators will outperform the allocators. Those that are actually
able to extract value from the property they are buying – actively managing
it, renovating it and so on – most likely will outperform the fund allocators.”
And, he is no fan of large general funds, noting: “We tend not to prefer pan-
European funds unless there is added value for building up such a portfolio.”
On fund terms, Kanters also is outspoken: “Fee schedules might be less
favourable for the investor. We remain very keen and strict on terms.” Any
wonder why he is seen as a leader in Europe?
EUROPE
FIRM OF THE YEAR
1 The Blackstone Group
2 LaSalle Investment Management
3 Delancey
Two US heavyweights battled it out in this category for
Pike: €1bn+ in
their activities in Europe. The Blackstone Group went European mandates
head-to-head with LaSalle Investment Management, and
ultimately the New York-based behemoth won more votes.
Not that LaSalle didn’t deserve an accolade. In the case of the Chicagobased
real estate investment management firm, it has actively been demonstrating
its status as a stable outfit by winning various investment mandates,
including more than €1 billion from institutional investors in Europe. At the
same time, it ramped up the activity of its special situations group and won a
beauty parade to take over the management of JER Partners Europe.
Still, as in North America, The Blackstone Group attracted more support
among PERE readers for an extremely busy investment year. The Europe team
rallied from a very quiet 2010 by ramping up activity dramatically, shifting
more than €1 billion into 10 investments that include the acquisitions of Mint
Hotels and Chiswick Park in the UK. In continental Europe, it made a huge
bet on Polish retail, acquiring Magnolia Park shopping centre for €225 million.
At the PERE Forum in London in June, Chad Pike, head of European
real estate, said Blackstone was beginning to see a “trickle of deals become a
stream.” The numbers seems to back up that observation.
2011 AWARDS & ANNUAL REVIEW | PERE

EUROPE
PLACEMENT AGENT OF THE YEAR
1 Credit Suisse Real Estate Private
Fund Group
2 Cushman & Wakefield Corporate Finance
3 Atlantic-Pacific Capital
There were some strong claims for the Placement Agent
category this year. Cushman & Wakefield, for example,
scored an important win as the firm better known for its
agency and investment work was appointed in a fundraising
capacity by Legal & General for its £300 million
UK Property Income Fund. Atlantic-Pacific Capital, an
established name in fundraising, also won some acclaim
for helping Germany’s Activum SG Capital Management
get its fund more than two times oversubscribed.
Nevertheless, Credit Suisse Real Estate Private Funds
Group has a loyal following and won more votes in this
category than the others. Perhaps it is not quite the force it
used to be, but the firm is still managing to assist clients in
major fundraisings. For example, last year saw the completion
of a very big mandate for ECE Projektmanagement. In
August, the German shopping centre investor achieved a
final close of €775.5 million for its maiden fund, exceeding
its equity target by 40 percent.
It was a big win for Credit Suisse’s Real Estate Private
Fund Group, which has 20 professionals based in London.
Real estate investment banking veteran Sasha Silver
currently oversees its real estate business in Europe, and
Anthony Carpenito, who is based in New York, oversees
Credit Suisse’s global real estate placement effort.
EUROPE
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR OF THE YEAR
1 APG Asset Management
2 Allianz Real Estate
3 Norges Bank Investment Management
It has been quite a year for APG Asset Management. First,
the Dutch pension fund asset manager shook up ProLogis
European Properties (PEPR) so much that its external manager,
the Denver-based logistics REIT ProLogis, was forced
to buy it. You see, if there is one thing APG doesn’t like, it is
perceived poor governance.
APG had been a long-standing investor in PEPR since
before its IPO, and it didn’t like the idea of the firm going
public in the first place because of the way the ‘external’ manager
also owned a big stake in the fund. Then, there was the
announcement of a $14 billion merger between ProLogis and
AMB Property. APG argued that, post-merger, there would
be no fewer than five ProLogis/AMB vehicles that invested
in core European logistics assets, and therefore they may be
competing for the same opportunities in the same territory.
PERE | 2011 AWARDS & ANNUAL REVIEW
EUROPE
CAPITAL RAISE OF THE YEAR
1 Pramerica Real Estate Investors,
Pramerica Real Estate Capital 1 Fund
2 ECE Projektmanagement, ECE European Prime
Shopping Center Fund
3 Tristan Capital Partners, Curzon Capital
Partners III
Pramerica Real Estate Investors took top honours for Europe
Capital Raise of the Year for what reputedly is the region’s largest
discretionary dedicated mezzanine debt vehicle launched so
far this economic cycle. The European property arm of Prudential
Financial secured commitments totalling £492 million
(€554 million; $804 million) for Pramerica Real Estate Capital
1 Fund, with investors coming from leading pension funds and
sovereign wealth funds in North America, Europe, the UK and
the Middle East.
Pramerica has been offering a range of debt products around
the world, and the Pramerica Real Estate Capital 1 Fund was first
offered to institutional clients as part of the firm’s global debt
platform. Pramerica said it designed the strategy to meet increasing
global appetite for financing, beginning with a demand for
alternative sources of funding in the UK and European markets.
Indeed, in April, Pramerica highlighted research by advisory
firm Navigant, which estimated that up to €670 billion of European
property loans made by banks and other financial institutions
would require refinancing within two years. Pramerica predicted
that this could produce a refinancing gap in Europe of €18 billion
in 2011 alone, €28 billion in 2012 and €42 billion in 2013. That
story proved compelling to investors.
Long story short,
Pearland Town Center, Texas: one of APG’s
APG led a takeover
many mall assets
attempt that eventually
flushed out ProLogis itself to make a counter offer. APG
sold its stake far above where the share price had been before
it made its move.
Such swashbuckling enterprise also was mirrored in
several club deals and direct transactions. In the US, for example,
it partnered with TIAA-CREF to buy a stake in a US
retail portfolio valued at $1.53 billion. It also teamed with the
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, China Investment
Corporation and Sydney-based Goodman Group to take over
ING Real Estate Investment Management’s ING Industrial
Fund. There were more deals besides, but one can see why
APG won the award.

EUROPE
FUND OF FUNDS/SECONDARIES
FIRM OF THE YEAR
1 Partners Group
2 UBS Global Real Estate
3 Sparinvest
Partners Group of Switzerland does more
than just operate in the secondaries space.
Nevertheless, it managed to scoop up the
award for Fund of Funds/ Secondaries
Firm of the Year largely on the fact that
it was one of the buyers of unlisted fund
interests sold by Immofinanz Group and
was involved in other secondary deals that
have not been disclosed.
Partners Group had competition from
UBS Global Real Estate and Sparinvest
in the category. Special note should go to
the runner-up in this category, UBS, for
having secured what is likely the largest
new multi-manager account of the
year. The firm was picked by Bayerische
Versorgungskammer, Germany’s largest
EUROPE
LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (TRANSACTIONS)
1 Nabarro
2 Clifford Chance
3 Gibson Dunn
public pension, to manage a €500 million
separate account mandate to invest in real estate globally.
Partners Group could be enjoying even more success in terms of deals this
year, as discounts on secondary real estate portfolios grew towards the end of
last year in a trend that has continued into 2012. Claude Angéloz, co-head of
private real estate, said banks and other financial firms were among the notable
sellers of real estate fund interests, with this type of seller coming under pressure
from a raft of regulations such as Basel III, the Volcker rule and Solvency II.
EUROPE
DEBT PROVIDER OF THE YEAR
1 Deutsche Bank
2 M&G Investments
3 Deutsche Pfandbriefbank
Admittedly, this was not a crowded field given the
amount of scaling back presently witnessed in European
real estate finance. Nevertheless, the honours go
Deutsche Bank:
to Deutsche Bank.
reviving CMBS in Europe
Among Deutsche Bank’s notable participations was
Europe’s largest private equity real estate deal of the year - Kennedy Wilson’s
purchase of a $1.8 billion loan book from Bank of Ireland. It also worked with
The Blackstone Group on its purchase of Chiswick Park in west London. In
addition, it funded Blackstone’s £600 million takeover of Mint Hotels, providing
£300 million to refinance a £450 million facility from Lloyds Banking Group.
A footnote to Deutsche Bank’s success: Cyril Courbage, the managing director
responsible for the bank’s European commercial real estate large loan banking
and nonperforming loan principal activities, reportedly has joined Fortress
Investment Group to help lead deals in Europe.
Nabarro’s work in 2011 included some high-profile The Mailbox: Nabarro advised
Brockton
transactions in the UK for opportunistic fund managers
such as Brockton Capital. The law firm acted
for Brockton in the debut deal of Brockton Capital Fund II, a £500 million (€570
million; $815 million) UK opportunity fund that was raised in September 2010. The
transaction involved the £127.1 million acquisition of The Mailbox in Birmingham,
which is reputed to be the largest mixed-use building in the UK.
The London-based law firm also acted for Hermes Real Estate and LaSalle Investment
Management on the sale of One Finsbury Circus in London, as well as for the
BP Pension Fund and Great Portland Estate on the purchase of 200-214 Grays Inn
Road in London.
Nabarro withstood stiff competition from two rivals. In second place was Clifford
Chance, which advised Norges Bank on a €1.4 billion joint venture with AXA Real
Estate. Gibson Dunn, which worked on a £460 million recapitalisation of Plantation
Place and a landmark decision in France, came in third.
EUROPE
LAW OF THE YEAR (FUND FORMATION)
1 Clifford Chance
2 Nabarro
3 Proskauer Rose
Clifford Chance seems to be a mainstay of the
award for fund formation work by law firms
in Europe. It got the most votes again this
year, with achievements that include advising
Legal & General Property on its UK Income
Fund. That vehicle had an innovative aspect
to it, in that investors get to choose the level
of leverage they want. The documents had to
accommodate 14 major institutional investors
based in the Middle East, Denmark, the UK,
France, Finland, Switzerland and Japan.
Clifford Chance also acted on behalf of
Altarea Codegim’s €600 million value-added
vehicle in France. The company claimed it was
one of the largest dedicated office property
funds in the Paris region, as well as a first in
terms of a fund of this size by an operating
company.
The runner-up in the category was Nabarro.
Among its work was the debut core-plus fund
for London-based Tristan Capital. Third
place went to Proskauer Rose, which acted for
Activum SG Capital Management on its €238
million distressed German real estate and
special situations fund.
2011 AWARDS & ANNUAL REVIEW | PERE

ASIA
DEAL OF THE YEAR
1 Invesco Real Estate’s takeover of AIG Global Real
Estate’s Asia business
2 The Blackstone Group’s acquisition of Valad Property Group
3 Mapletree Investments’ purchase of Festival Walk in Hong Kong
It received less coverage than the platform offloads by investment
banks Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, but
American International Group’s sale of the Asia component of
its real estate fund management platform to Invesco Real Estate
has nonetheless impressed voters. In one swoop, the Atlantabased
investment outfit inherited $5.4 billion in assets under
management, resulting in the assets of its own Asia real estate
division multiplying by a massive ten times to almost $6 billion. Lau: ten times more
It was a fitting payoff for Invesco, which entered the region in
property
2006 with the hiring of managing director Cheng-Soon Lau.
The deal saw Invesco inherit a platform that had managed to raise a total of eight
funds since it began operations, including two Pan-Asia opportunistic vehicles. One
of those funds, the $740 million AIG Asian Real Estate Partners II, was transferred
to Invesco with most of its equity uncommitted.
Furthermore, the takeover was an opportunistic deal. AIG marketed the platform
for sale in 2009 as the embattled insurer sought to repay $20 billion of Federal
Reserve Bank of New York money, having been kept alive by the US taxpayer
through an initial $85 billion bailout in September 2008. Good conditions for
Invesco to pounce; consequently, the award for Deal of the Year is theirs.
ASIA
FIRM OF THE YEAR
1 Fortress Investment Group
2 Arch Capital
3 ARA Asset Management
It is telling that, over the past couple of months, certain fund Pulley: leading the
managers active in Japan have described themselves as closely charge in Japan
on the heels of the Japanese arm of Fortress Investment Group’s
credit funds business. Unintentionally complimentary perhaps, but such sentiment
indicates that its peers have hailed Fortress as the team to beat.
That sentiment was largely down to how quickly and effectively the platform
managed to deploy the $800 million it raised for the Fortress Japan Opportunity
Domestic Fund, its maiden private equity real estate fund in Japan. Closed in June
2010, the vehicle’s capital was used to invest in various complex situations related to
high-profile companies, such as KK daVinci.
Renown for its dexterity in the debt space, Fortress’ forays have shown decent
outcomes as well, with PERE sources revealing that the fund is on course for IRRs
of more than 30 percent. Fortress’ investors evidently approve as its follow-up fund,
Fortress Japan Opportunity Fund II, has been quick to attract a first closing of approximately
$550 million at the end of last year.
When PERE interviewed platform head Tom Pulley as part of a wider profile on
Fortress’ credit funds division, he said: “Right now, debt is driving the opportunity,
and it takes both the ability to figure out how to get to the asset in the most costefficient,
expeditious manner possible and then what to do with the asset.” Fortress’
investors, and subsequently PERE’s audience, believe it has just that ability and have
awarded it accordingly.
PERE | 2011 AWARDS & ANNUAL REVIEW
ASIA
INDUSTRY FIGURE OF THE YEAR
1 Andie Kang, National
Pension Service of Korea
2 Collin Lau, China Investment
Corporation
3 Tom Pulley, Fortress
Investment Group
The competition to be
crowned Industry Figure
of the Year for Asia
has been something
of a two-horse race in
recent years between
China Investment
Corporation’s Collin
Lau and National Pension
Service (NPS) of
Kang: role model
for others
Korea’s global real estate head Andie Kang.
This year, it was Kang’s turn.
Kang reclaimed this year’s title from Lau
(2010’s winner) after previously winning
in 2009. Voters were impressed in part by
a number of large equity commitments
made to value-added and development
funds focused on North America and Latin
America.
A man of his word, Kang authorised
$650 million in commitments – $150
million each to value-added vehicles of
Invesco Real Estate and Cornerstone Real
Estate Advisors, $150 million to Colony
Capital’s distressed credit fund and $200
million to Tishman Speyer’s Brazil-focused
fund – after stating that NPS would start
investing up the risk spectrum.
That wasn’t all. While making headlines
for its commitments to higher return
funds, NPS also built out what is now $6
billion worth of diversified assets outside of
Korea through involvement in discounted
property deals, as well as capital restructurings
or recapitalisations. Among its
highest-profile transactions was a participation
in Blackstone’s $9.4 billion purchase
of Centro Property Group’s US portfolio.
Furthermore, the real estate strategy
of NPS, which has upward of $288 billion
in assets, has become something of a
blueprint for its compatriot investors to
emulate. Samsung Fire & Marine said as
much to PERE last year. Credit must go to
Kang for leading that effort.

ASIA
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR OF THE YEAR
1 Government of Singapore Investment
Corporation
2 China Investment Corporation
3 National Pension Service of Korea
The Government of Singapore Investment
Corporation (GIC) beat out its sovereign
wealth fund rivals for the title of Asia
Institutional Investor of the Year following
a raft of deals.
Among the key investment themes for
GIC last year was logistics in Asia. For
example, it acquired an 80.1 percent stake
Seek: hands over a
in an Australian logistics venture with winning investor
Australand, which sold A$450 million of
its developments. That was followed by one of Japan’s largest
transactions: Global Logistics Properties, a Singapore-listed
developer and investor backed by GIC, led the $1.6 billion
acquisition of 15 warehouses from a fund managed by LaSalle
Investment Management.
The active year also turned out to be the swansong for Dr
Seek Ngee Huat, who stepped down as head of GIC’s real estate
division. After 15 years at the helm, he handed over responsibility
for the division to his former deputy Goh Kok Huat, who
picked up the reigns seamlessly. Before 2011 was over, GIC
agreed to participate in the privatisation of the Charter Hall
Office REIT in a deal valued at A$1.9 billion.
The ability to execute large transactions like this have not
gone unnoticed by PERE’s voting audience. As a result, GIC
has been duly rewarded.
ASIA
The fact that Hong Kong-based Arch Capital Management won
more votes in this category than Macquarie Infrastructure and
Real Assets speaks volumes about the success of the emerging
manager.
Barely five years old, Arch’s opportunistic programme has
become a magnet for institutional investors seeking exposure
to higher yielding investments in Asia. By its second close, the
firm had managed to raise $306.8 million for its second-ever
vehicle, ARCH Capital-TRG Asian Partners, and all signs point
to it meeting its $500 million target.
No doubt the performance of Arch’s first fund has helped
with the current fundraising effort. Though unconfirmed by
Arch itself, Arch Capital Asian Partners, which raised $330
million in 2007, currently is generating internal rates of return
ASIA
PLACEMENT AGENT OF THE YEAR
1 Macquarie Capital Advisors
2 Jones Lang LaSalle
3 Morgan Stanley
CAPITAL RAISE OF THE YEAR
1 Arch Capital Management, ARCH Capital -TRG Asian Partners fund
2 Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, Macquarie China Retail Company
3 ARA Asset Management, ARA Asia Dragon Fund II
If Macquarie Group is disappointed by coming in second
in the Capital Raise of the Year category, then it can take
solace in winning in the Placement Agent category. That win
was based largely on Macquarie Capital Advisors attracting
approximately $1 billion from the Abu Dhabi Investment
Authority (ADIA).
Originally mandated to raise a commingled fund just like
its 2005 predecessor, Macquarie Capital Advisors found itself
confronted with an enviable situation. ADIA’s appetite for
more retail property was such that its large cheque book would
leave little room for other investors in the vehicle. In keeping
with ADIA’s more direct investing philosophy, the state fund
also was after more control than typically would be accommodated
in a commingled fund.
Macquarie Capital Advisors decided to switch the construct
of the fund to something resembling a separate account. ADIA
assumed the majority of the vehicle’s equity, supplemented by
capital from Macquarie itself.
That effort alone might have been sufficient to win the
award, but Macquarie Capital Advisors also served as advisor
to the China Investment Corporation, Canada Pension
Plan Investment Board and Netherlands-based APG in the
A$2.5 billion privatisation of the ING Industrial Fund. It also
advised the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation
and Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board in their
efforts to privatise the Charter Hall Office REIT.
of between 18 percent and 20 percent, which
is in line with its target. The firm’s second
fund is pitched as producing the same result.
Yue: worth keeping
tabs on
Investors also are said to have liked Arch’s March restructuring,
which saw the firm’s 50 percent owner, Philippines-based
Ayala Corporation, enter into an agreement with New Yorkbased
emerging markets firm The Rohatyn Group (TRG) to exchange
shares in Arch for an increased stake in TRG. Keen not
to miss out on Arch’s future successes, however, Ayala remains
a cornerstone LP in the funds.
Co-founder Richard Yue and his team were included in
PERE’s feature of 10 emerging managers to watch, and the
reader vote endorsing its fundraising effort in 2011 makes us
feel somewhat vindicated about the firm’s inclusion.
2011 AWARDS & ANNUAL REVIEW | PERE

ASIA
FUND OF FUNDS/SECONDARIES FIRM
OF THE YEAR
1 CBRE Global Investors
2 Aberdeen Asset Management
3 Composition Capital
It would be underplaying the
achievement to suggest that
CBRE Global Investors won this
award simply for being the only
multi-manager platform in the
region to close a fund last year.
The firm also demonstrated
ingenuity and evolution within
Plummer: evolving
the multi-manager space.
the platform
CBRE Global Investors raised
$260 million for its Asia Alpha Plus Fund II, thanks
to the efforts of Jeremy Plummer and his team in
Asia, led regionally by managing director Adrian
Baker. The other half to the story, however, is that
the firm also became a leader on the real estate
multi-manager circuit after it developed a distinctive
model.
CBRE Global Investors stepped away from the
traditional fund of funds route by promoting a
ASIA
LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (TRANSACTIONS)
1. Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker
2. Baker & McKenzie
3. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
ASIA
Interesting and diverse capital raisings wasn’t
the only area Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker
Torpey: led the firm
excelled in during 2011. The law firm also was
to wins
involved in some high-profile transactions in Asia
as well.
In the spring, the firm advised a group of lead finance arrangers,
including JPMorgan and Credit Suisse, on Home Inns & Hotel Management’s
purchase of Motel 168 International Holdings, China’s fifth largest
discount hotels operator, in a cash and stock deal valued at $470 million.
Meanwhile, in core territory, Paul Hastings advised on possibly the
largest single-asset transaction in Asia in 2011, the $2.4 billion acquisition
of the Festival Walk shopping centre on behalf of Mapletree Investments.
That deal was not only significant on account of its heft, but the purchase
also marked Mapletree’s first investment ever in Hong Kong.
Baker & McKenzie, last year’s winner, ran close in the voting, but deals
like these persuaded PERE’s readers to back Paul Hastings this year.
LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (FUND FORMATION)
1 Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker
2 Baker & McKenzie
3 Allen & Gledhill
model with a completely pre-specified investment strategy that included
no fresh equity commitments to new underlying funds. Equity commitments
came from five large institutional investors, which then were
offered pre-specified investments through the vehicle.
PERE | 2011 AWARDS & ANNUAL REVIEW
Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker really took 2011 by the scuff of the
neck, and its efforts have resulted in two third place finishes last year
becoming two victories this time around.
As Asia’s fund formation victor, Paul Hastings can proudly claim it
was the lawyer for Hong Kong-based Arch Capital Management’s awardwinning
$306.8 million capital raising for its second Asia opportunity
fund, Arch Capital - TRG Asian Partners.
Less conventional was Paul Hastings’ work on SOTAN China Real
Estate I, a club fund that attracted $200 million from two institutional
investors and a further $200 million from TAN-EU’s partner, the Shui
On Group.
Furthermore, Paul Hastings had high-pedigree private equity clients
in its mix, advising buyout titan Kohlberg Kravis Roberts to set up a
five-year fund with Sino-Ocean Land. The partners are putting in $70
million each, and other investors will be invited to participate in due
course. That presumably means more for Paul Hastings to do.
ASIA
DEBT PROVIDER OF THE YEAR
1 Standard Chartered Bank
2 AXA Real Estate Investment Managers
3 Diamond Realty Management
Brian Chinappi, global head of principal finance
real estate at Standard Chartered Bank, said late
last year: “What makes us unique in the market
today is the ability to provide one-stop solutions
across the entire capital structure.” That may
sound like a marketing line, but PERE voters acknowledged
that the bank had been active in Asia,
as they backed it to win the Debt Provider of the
Year award.
Via its principal finance real estate and its real
estate banking units, 2011 saw Standard Chartered
heavily involved in all kinds of property
debt. It was active in syndicated loans for clients,
including China property companies Shui On
Land, Shimao Property Holdings and Longfor
Properties, and mezzanine loans such as GYS Real
Estate’s $354 million structured debt – a mix of
senior and mezzanine facilities regarded as the
first of its kind for India.
Research by Bloomberg provides a further
indictor to just how busy Standard Chartered was
in 2011. The news and data service noted that the
bank had a market share of 36.7 percent in terms of
syndicated real estate loans in the region.