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NRF advises on Australia’s ‘largest-ever direct property transaction’
Norton Rose Fulbright advises ESR on the acquisition of Blackstone’s Milestone Logistics Portfolio.
Natasha Taylor
Firms: Norton Rose Fulbright (ESR).
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Deal: Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised ESR, an Asia-Pacific logistics real estate platform, on its conditional agreement to purchase Blackstone’s Milestone Logistics Portfolio.
Value: Undisclosed.
Area: M&A.
Key players: The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by partners Michael French and Michael McKee, while partner Stephen Iu led the corporate and M&A workstream and partner Chris Patten led the debt workstream.
The team also included partner Marshall Bromwich who assisted in W&I Insurance, and senior associates Danielle Sterling and Charlie Watson who helped manage the transaction.
Clayton Utz advised Blackstone in the deal. Their team were comprised of corporate partner David Wilkie, with assistance from partner Kylie de Oliveira and senior associate Ben Cosentino. Other core team members were corporate partners Brendan Groves, Rory Moriarty and senior associate Kate Allison, partner David Gerber and banking and financial services partners Alex Schlosser and Kate O'Donovan.
Deal significance: The acquisition of Blackstone’s Milestone Logistics Portfolio is described as a landmark deal as it is reportedly Australia’s largest-ever direct property transaction.
Consisting of 45 assets over 3.6 million square metres across Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, the Milestone Portfolio, once completion of the agreement occurs, will transform ESR into the third-largest manager of industrial real estate in Australia with an $7.9 billion Australian logistics portfolio.
According to Norton Rose Fulbright’s statement, ESR Australia chief executive Philip Pearce said that the transaction strategically positions the ESR Milestone Partnership to benefit from the continued growth in demand for warehouse space, particularly in the e-commerce space.
“We congratulate ESR for prevailing in a deal that will transform its business in Australia. We are proud to have assisted them navigate the extremely competitive process to consummate agreements for what is reported to be the biggest direct real estate deal ever done in Australia,” said Norton Rose Fulbright partner Mr French.
