Cuatrecasas counsels Adeo on €500m Real Estate sale

Cuatrecasas Spain & Portugal offices have advised Adeo on a sale and lease-back operation to Batipart and Covéa of a pan-European portfolio of Real Estate assets worth over €500 million

The portfolio comprises 42 assets in four countries (France, Spain, Italy and Portugal), fully leased to brands Leroy Merlin, Bricoman and Bricomart. Together, the assets cover a total of over 400,000 sqm., secured by long-term leases.

Adeo, a leading international player in the home improvement market, retains 20% of the newly created structure for the acquisition of the portfolio.

With this deal, French group Batipart concludes a strategic alliance in order to accelerate its diversification in Europe. Already present in different Real Estate sectors such as offices, hotels, housing, leisure and health, this portfolio complements the assets already managed by Batipart. According to Batipart, this complex transaction involving several countries is the result of a year’s work by Adeo and Batipart teams and was successfully completed despite the recent months’ difficult context.

Nicolas Ruggieri, chairman of Batipart Immobilier Europe, said: “This deal constitutes a milestone in the expansion of our property portfolio in Europe. Our teams will from now on be able to work with Adeo and its brands to manage these assets in the best possible way in the long term, which is a shared and important perspective for both our groups.”

Cuatrecasas advised Adeo on Spanish and Portuguese Law matters. From Spain, the team was led by Real Estate counsel Silvia Alcoverro (pictured left), M&A counsel Hélène Baus, Public Law partner Julio Brasa, and associate Ana Serrano. From Portugal, the team comprised Real Estate partner Sara Quaresma (pictured right) and associate Margarida Sapateiro.

Arsene advised Adeo on the Tax aspects of the transaction, assisted by the members of the international network Taxand regarding the domestic Tax aspects. Garrigues, member of the Taxand network, advised on Tax matters with a Barcelona office team that included Tax partner Francisco Lavandera and Tax lawyers Carlos Sancho and Antonio Nieves. From Garrigues Portugal, a team led by partner Tiago Cassiano Neves, senior associate José Diogo Megre Pires and principal associate Isabel Vieira dos Reis also participated.

Morais Leitão advises Batipart and Covéa with a team which involved Real Estate partner Rita Ferreira Vicente, Banking and Finance partner Pedro Gorjão Henriques, Tax partner Bruno Santiago, Tax managing associate Pedro Soares da Silva, Public Law and Environment consultant Diana Ettner and Real Estate associate Maria Carolina Gonçalves.