Eversheds and Herbert Smith advise major shareholders on tie-up

Linklaters and Dickson Minto are among a raft of firms to have won roles on the £1.6bn merger of F&C Commercial Property Trust (FCPT) and the UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCPT).

The deal, which was agreed last week (9 June) and is due to close by August, will create the sixth-largest UK-listed property company, with a market capitalisation of approximately £1.6bn.

Linklaters advised UKCPT with a team led by partner Nicola Hopkins, the head of the magic circle firm's funds review practice, alongside associate Rahul Manvatkar.

Meanwhile, Dickson Minto advised longstanding client FCPT on the tie-up, with corporate partner Douglas Armstrong heading up the team. Dickson Minto will advise both FCPT and UKCPT on the implementation of the merger going forward, given that both trusts are existing clients of the firm. Linklaters was drafted in to advise UKCPT on the initial deal to avoid conflicts issues for Dickson Minto.

Dickson Minto is likely to become one of the newly-merged company's most prominent advisers. The merger will be carried out via a scheme of reconstruction which will see FCPT shareholders receive new UKCPT shares or, alternatively, elect to receive 91p per share in cash for their FCPT stake.

Friends Provident and Phoenix Group together hold 50.3% of the issued FCPT shares and have undertaken to both trusts to vote in favour of the scheme and receive new UKCPT shares.

Herbert Smith corporate partner Malcolm Lombers advised Friends Provident on the deal, while Eversheds won a role advising Phoenix Group, with corporate partners Jonathan Master and Ronald Paterson leading the team alongside Phoenix Group's legal director Phil Hagan and legal adviser Deborah Grim.

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