Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and Hogan Lovells have advised real estate investor M&G Real Estate on the restructuring of its £580m UK pooled pension property fund.

M&G Real Estate is the real estate investment arm of M&G Investments, part of the Prudential Group, and was until recently known as PRUPIM. 

The restructuring has seen the assets of Prudential Pensions transferred into a new vehicle. The move will make the fund more accessible to investors targeting UK property.

Hogan Lovells advised on the movement of assets, transferring 67 properties to the new fund, with real estate partner Daniel Norris leading the team. The firm used its 'Mexican Wave' outsourcing model – where it outsources routine work to a select group of non-City law firms – with due diligence and asset reporting work handled by Midlands firm Knights. 

Meanwhile, BLP handled regulatory and tax advice, with Luxemburg firm Arendt & Medernach advising on the offshore aspects. The BLP team was led by corporate tax partner Cathryn Vanderspar.

M&G Real Estate is an existing client of Hogan Lovells and BLP. Both firms acted on Prudential's £400m sale of Green Park business park to Oxford European Holdings in 2011 – Prudential's biggest-ever asset disposal.