| Hergüner Bilgen Özeke | Standout | Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Project: set up and implementation of a unique legal and regulatory framework. | 8 | 7 | 7 | 22 | To build a major oil pipeline through Turkey, the firm simplified the expropriation of 18,000 land parcels in over 1000km via 150 title deed offices. Extraordinary involvement of a law firm to not only design the solution to the land rights issues but to make it happen. |
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| Clifford Chance | Highly commended | Advising a Qatari investment company on £1.25bn acquisition and Islamic financing of Chelsea Barracks. The highest value UK land acquisition to date. | 7 | 6 | 6 | 19 | The acquisition of a landmark piece of Chelsea real estate with Islamic finance. With no real estate financing precedent on this scale, the legal team put together a sale and leaseback agreement using an Ijara, an Islamic financial instrument. The site is now being developed by CPC, the Guernsey-based developers. |
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| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | Highly commended | HSBC's £1.1bn sale and leaseback of its 8 Canada Square headquarters in Canary Wharf. The highest value single-asset acquisition ever in UK. | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | Freshfields structured and developed an entirely new form of leasing for HSBC’s sale of its Canary Wharf building which enabled the bank to release capital and retain control of its branding. It turned around the deal in less than two months. |
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| Trowers & Hamlins | Commended | New Deal for Communities Programme for the regeneration of North East Coventry. | 6 | 6 | 4 | 16 | Advised the consortium to transform a deprived neighbourhood where the firm brokered the deal and acted in high level negotiations. |
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| Clifford Chance | Commended | Advising Banco Santander on Project Brick, a €1.9bn transaction, the largest sale and leaseback in mainland Europe. | 6 | 5 | 5 | 16 | In advising the bank on the sale and 40-year leaseback of its Madrid headquarters, the firm had to develop a new form of lease and write-in options for the vendor to buy-back and to build on the land. |
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