TOKYO – Aug. 17, 2020 – Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP has been shortlisted for Real Estate Law Firm of the Year by the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Japan Law Firm Awards 2020. Winners will be announced September 24, 2020. The ALB Japan Law Awards pay tribute to the outstanding performance of private practitioners and in-house teams in Japan and around the region.
“Greenberg Traurig has built a dedicated real estate team in Japan that consists of both experienced Japanese trained and licensed bengoshi and international real estate lawyers with decades of experience representing global investors,” said Asia Real Estate Practice Chair Joel H. Rothstein. “Being selected as a finalist for this award demonstrates our team’s ability to work seamlessly across Japan on the full spectrum of real estate transactions, offering Japanese local law expertise combined with intimate knowledge of international standards and best practices of the real estate industry.”
Since Rothstein joined the firm in 2018, the Asia Real Estate Practice has grown attorney headcount, with more than a dozen lawyers in the region serving clients in Asia and around the globe. The team focuses on a full spectrum of industry deals and transactions, including cross border investment, fund formation, real estate finance, hospitality, and asset securitization.
Greenberg Traurig real estate deals that resulted in this ALB Japan recognition include the following recent representative transactions:
- Representation of one of the world’s leading integrated resort owners and operators in a complex first in Japan market transaction involving the proposed largest privately-owned real estate and infrastructure project ever undertaken in Japan. The project involves the development of a US $14 billion-dollar integrated resort, featuring luxury hotels, gaming facilities, convention and exhibition facilities, shopping centers, dinning, entertainment and other leisure amenities.
- Representation of a U.S.-based private equity fund manager in raising capital in Asia and specifically Japan for a new private equity fund targeting large and complex land development projects in the U.S. The firm’s work on the transaction included preparing a comprehensive overview of the categories of Japanese institutional investors, making recommendations on how to structure the fund so that it would appeal to Japanese investors on both tax and legal levels, and guiding the client in complying with Japanese regulatory requirements imposed on international real estate fund sponsors marketing funds to Japanese investors.
- Representation of leading global real estate investment management firm in the acquisition and complex restructure of the debt on a portfolio of logistic and warehouse properties in Japan. The firm devised a creative structure which enabled the transaction to proceed which, among other things, relied on enlisting the assistance of a trust bank intermediary and creating the issuance of certain trust beneficiary interests. Greenberg Traurig successfully represented the client by utilizing and merging its expertise and knowledge in Japanese TMK bond law, senior and mezzanine secured debt, logistics and warehousing industry and the strategies utilized by distressed debt and opportunistic investors around the globe.
Whether its advising in the creation and development of Japan’s first integrated resort, guiding the world’s leading private equity funds sponsors in accessing capital from Japanese institutional investors with global ambitions or devising creative and bespoke solutions for high stakes distressed debt and opportunistic real estate transactions, Greenberg Traurig is becoming recognized as the go to firm for first in market and complex deals in Japan. The ALB Japan Awards nomination signals the firm’s expanding role in the Japan market.
“We are proud of the continued success of our real estate team in Asia,” said Richard A. Rosenbaum, Greenberg Traurig Executive Chairman. “The international real estate industry is increasingly interconnected and complex, and continuing to provide best in class service with top-tier teams in key markets for our clients in the real estate sector is a crucial offering of the firm, now more than ever.”
This award comes on the heels of recent recognition as Law Firm of the Year in Germany for expertise in Real Estate Law by Best Lawyers in their 2021 edition. The German ranking is published in cooperation with the renowned German business magazine Handelsblatt and recognizes only one firm in the country for its work in a specific legal practice area. GT’s real estate team in the United States is well-known as an industry leader, having earned the Chambers USA Award for Excellence four times, and the only firm to achieve this recognition back-to-back years.
About Greenberg Traurig's Real Estate Practice: The Greenberg Traurig Real Estate Practice is a cornerstone of the firm and recognized leader in the industry. The firm’s real estate attorneys deliver diversified and comprehensive counsel for property acquisition and investment, development, management and leasing, financing, restructuring, and disposition of all asset classes of real estate. The team draws upon the knowledge and experience of more than 400 real estate lawyers from around the world, serving clients from key markets in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The group’s clientele includes a broad range of property developers, lenders, investment managers, private equity funds, REITs, and private owners. The firm’s real estate team advises clients on a variety of matters across a broad spectrum of commercial, recreational, and residential real estate, including structured equity and debt and the hybrids.
About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has approximately 2200 attorneys in 41 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. Web: www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.