Eversheds advises Opus Land on joint venture with GE Capital

Eversheds in Leeds has gained Opus Land as a new client, which is part of Palmer Capital Partners (PCP).
A venture capital house, PCP invests and takes a share in property development companies. There are six such companies in the PCP stable, one of which is Opus Land, which has just launched a joint venture with GE Capital. The Leeds office of Eversheds acted for Opus/PCP in the setting up of the joint venture. Forsters acted for GE Capital.
The value of the joint venture is hard to determine. It is not a pot of money waiting to be spent, but a fund that both joint venture parties put money into when they want to strike a property deal. According to PCP managing director and head of legal Christopher Digby-Bell, Opus and GE Capital have already carried out £18m of property investment in Bristol and Walsall through the joint venture.
The Bristol development is a 107,000sq ft landmark office building on 13 floors, which is let to the Government, AXA Sun Life, Unilever and Bristol Healthcare. Eversheds' Leeds office advised the joint venture on the Bristol acquisition. Leeds partner Andrew Latchmore is the main relationship partner for Opus. The Walsall project is a distribution depot, comprising 164,000sq ft of land. Forsters advised the joint venture on this acquisition.
As the joint venture is deal-driven, Eversheds' Leeds office cannot be comfortably retained as its main legal adviser.
"Andrew Latchmore and Eversheds Leeds have joined our pool of legal advisers," said Digby-Bell. He was unable to guarantee if this meant that Eversheds Leeds was guaranteed work on the next Opus/GE Capital deal.