Abbey deal heralds outsourcing boom
Legal Week Reports
October 25, 2000 at 08:03 PM
2 minute read
By Saira Zaki
Lovells and Linklaters & Alliance have advised on a ground-breaking £457m 'property outsourcing' deal for Abbey National – one of the first transactions of its kind.
Under the terms of the deal, structured by accountants Ernst & Young (E&Y), Abbey National sold its property portfolio, comprising 1,300 properties, for £457m to Mapley Columbus, a company linked to financier George Soros. Abbey then leased back the properties, netting itself £70m in profit. It is the first large sophisticated outsourcing deal in the private sector to hit the property market.
Lovells, led by head of property Bob Kidby, advised Abbey – a first-time client. The firm won the instruction following a beauty parade last November.
It beat three other firms: Nabarro Nathanson, Slaughter and May and Linklaters & Alliance.
Linklaters, led by property partner James Knox, was eventually pulled into the deal when Mapley then instructed it, winning Linklaters a new client too. The deal's advisers, including Kidby and Mike McNamara, a partner at E&Y, predict that the transaction will revolutionise the property deals market for corporates with large property portfolios.
The BBC has shortlisted two consortia to take forward plans for a similar deal. Abbey was not only able to dispose of its property risk, minimising its exposure and taking the costs off its balance sheet, but was also able to fix its property costs for the next 20 years.
Although the deal is said to be the first in the private sector it follows a handful of government-related sale and leasebacks under schemes from the Inland Revenue and the Department of Social Security.
McNamara said: "The corporate deals differ from the Government-oriented ones because they are even more innovative."
He added: "This deal paves the way for others who have previously been more fearful of this type of deal."
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllSkadden to Close in Shanghai and Make Cuts to China Corporate Practice
DWF Group's Canadian Firm Set to Add Fourth Office With 16-Lawyer Montreal Team
UK Law Firms Face £75M Money Laundering Investigations Alongside Russia Scrutiny
3 minute readTrending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: Playing the Talent Game to Win
- 2A&O Shearman Adopts 3-Level Lockstep Pay Model Amid Shift to All-Equity Partnership
- 3Preparing Your Law Firm for 2025: Smart Ways to Embrace AI & Other Technologies
- 4BD Settles Thousands of Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuits
- 5A RICO Surge Is Underway: Here's How the Allstate Push Might Play Out
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250