Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has taken a lead role on new property developer Almacantar's acquisition of London's landmark Centre Point tower.

The deal also handed roles to Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), which advised the administrator for bankrupt former owner Targetfollow, and to Clifford Chance (CC), which acted for Eurohypo on debt financing.

The value of the deal was undisclosed, but has been estimated in press reports at around £120m. It has been reported that Almacantar is planning to convert some of the tower into luxury apartments.

Freshfields City real estate partner Alex Watt led the team from the magic circle firm, working alongside partners Christopher Morris (real estate), Tim Wilmot (corporate), David Trott (finance).

BLP's team was led by City real estate partner Barry Gross, while CC's London-based finance team was led by senior associate Heather Buttle alongside partners Mark Rees-Jones, Damian Perry and lawyers in the firm's real estate team.

The tower last changed hands in 2005 for £85m, when Targetfollow bought it from Blackmoor. That deal saw Linklaters real estate partner Anne Byrne advise Targetfollow, while DLA Piper real estate partner Richard Crossfield acted for Blackmoor and McGrigors advised the financier, the Bank of Scotland.

The new transaction marks the first appointment that Freshfields has won from Almacantar but also its first major transaction since the company was formed last year by former Land Securities developer Mike Hussey and Neil Jones from Grosvenor Group.

Watt commented: "This was an interesting deal for us because it was a relatively large transaction given the current market conditions. It was also the first major transaction by our new client and we hope to win further work from them in the future. It comes as we have seen an overall pickup in activity in real estate over the last six months, especially in London."