Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured?

Heimstaden is the second-largest European real estate company with more than 148.000 homes across 10 European countries and a property value close to SEK 300 bn. We acquire, develop, and manage properties from an evergreen perspective. Every day, our people create values for owners and friendly homes for customers guided by our core values – dare, care, share.

Kristian Berensten joined Fredensborg and Heimstaden as a chief legal officer in January 2020 with the vision of building the leading in-house legal and tax team in the European real estate sector. In the past two years, the team has grown from four to twenty dedicated professionals located around Europe, focusing on providing business oriented legal and tax advice to accelerate Hemistaden’s vision and strategy further.

What are the most significant cases and transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

The most significant cases and transactions we have been involved in include leading the entrance to four new markets — the UK, Poland, Iceland, and Finland. The team played an instrumental role in all phases, from structuring acquisitions to achieving scalable and operational platforms.

We drove the growth of Heimstaden thanks to the purchase of the Akelius portfolio — the largest ever private real estate transaction in the Nordics, comprising 28.776 apartments in total across Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. The team played a pivotal role in negotiating and documenting all parts of the transactions and coordinating the process.

Additionally, the team assumed a crucial role in negotiating the joint venture with Allianz real estate for SEK 30.4bn portfolios in Malmo and Stockholm.

In 2021, we adopted the Swedish corporate governance code, revised the composition of the boards, and strengthened our risk and compliance framework. We are committed to continuing this work, ensuring long-term trust from our stakeholders.

How does the team contribute constructively to the growth and expansion of the company?

The team contributes to the growth and expansion of the company in several ways. It provides business-oriented legal advice and voices commercial opinions, supporting Heimstaden’s vision and strategic goals. It facilitates the growth trajectory as a legal function considered value-adding by commercial teams. We ensure that binding contracts are clear, simple, and refined — in line with market practice. The team plays a proactive role in safeguarding and upholding trust from external stakeholders. Additionally, being seamlessly integrated cross-border and across-department, we are trust advisers with the scope to optimise the performance of the core business.

Kristian Berensten
Chief legal officer
Heimstaden