Kramer Levin Advises La Française and Forum Partners in Acquisition of Cushman & Wakefield Investors

Kramer Levin clients La Française and Forum Partners today announce their acquisition of Cushman & Wakefield Investors (CWI), the investment management business of Cushman & Wakefield (C&W). This acquisition, subject to regulatory approval, will be jointly owned by La Française and Forum, 66.6% and 33.3% respectively, and will operate under the brand La Française Forum Real Estate Partners (“LFF Real Estate Partners”).

CWI executives David Rendall (CEO) and Jens Göttler (Managing Director), together with their current team, will continue to manage the business and investments. All existing service arrangements between Cushman & Wakefield and CWI will be transferred to LFF Real Estate Partners.

With over $1.2 billion of assets under management, CWI provides a complete investment management service in both direct and indirect commercial property investments for a wide range of international clients across the UK, continental Europe and in Korea. CWI is a recognized specialist in core and core plus real estate investment strategies throughout Europe, most notably the French, German, UK and Swedish markets.

Just four months ago, La Française and Forum Partners announced their partnership and aspiration to become a leading European real estate investment manager and advisor. The acquisition of CWI enables La Française and Forum Partners to provide a variety of solutions for investors seeking European core real estate exposure.

As a result of this acquisition, La Française and Forum Partners can now offer a complete range of bespoke Pan European real estate investment solutions (direct real estate, listed and unlisted real estate investment funds, private and public equity and debt) to retail and institutional investors worldwide.

The new combined platform will have total assets under management amounting to close to $20 billion, of which $14 billion are direct core European real estate investments.

The Kramer Levin team that advised La Française and Forum Partners was led by Paris partner Dana Anagnostou, with assistance from associate Stanislas Marmion.