1 March 2013

A portfolio of London properties was sold to British Land, including the Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre, which was sold by way of a share disposal, and four retail and office properties located in Baker Street, Chiswick High Road, Putney High Street and Fulham Road. The transaction completed on 8 February.

Separately, the Dolphin and Towngate shopping centres in Poole were sold to Legal & General Assurance (Pensions Management). Contract were exchanged on 8 February and the transaction completed on 25 February.

These transactions mark Wereldhave’s exit from the UK. John Laker, managing director of Wereldhave UK, said: ‘The sale of these assets are in line with our plans to consider our strategic options in the UK.’

Real-estate partner Mark Beardwood partner led the DLA Piper team, which included fellow real-estate partner Philip Rooney, corporate associate Edmund Chan and tax partner Mark Burgess. Other members of the real-estate team included legal director Richard Thompson, associate Sylvia Shepherd and solicitors Caroline Cockrell and Lauren Poole. Dutch law advice was provided by Erwin Van Elst from DLA Piper’s Amsterdam office.

British Land was represented by a team from SJ Berwin, led by real-estate partners Ed Page and Michael Scott and senior real-estate associates Michael Goldberg and Richard Lloyd.

Legal & General Assurance (Pensions Management) was represented by Maples Teesdale, led by real-estate partner Declan Power, with a team including real-estate associate Shehrnaz Dolasa.