Herbert Smith has taken the lead on two major regional property transactions, as the City firm continues to grab a slice of the property market outside London.

One of the deals saw property partner Chris de Pury advise private equity house Carlyle Group's real estate fund on its £150m acquisition of Colmore Plaza in Birmingham – one of the largest-ever private equity-led property acquisitions in the regions.

The plaza, a 14-storey office block, is due for completion next year and will be the highest tailored office block in Birmingham. The 300,000 sq ft building is on the former Birmingham Post and Mail site on Printing House Street, Birmingham.

This is the second major deal in a fortnight for de Pury, who also led on the £170m acquisition of the Sackville property portfolio by Caris-brooke.

The 37 properties, which include some Securicor depots, nursing homes and office blocks, were owned by John Madejski, owner of Reading Football Club.

Herbert Smith has a strong track record for regional property work. The City firm bagged a leading role on the development of Birmingham's Bullring at the turn of the millennium.

De Pury commented: "It does seem that deals are like buses – arriving in batches. The fact that the same individual team is closing so many transactions for different clients at the same time – while continuing to work on a number of other transactions – posed a logistical difficulty in itself."