The private funds group at Clifford Chance LLP is very active in the real estate space, acting for top domestic and international clients on all legal, tax and regulatory issues related to real estate investment funds. It is well placed to handle cross-border mandates by virtue of its large international network, and has a strong debt funds practice, which focuses on senior debt, mezzanine and other subordinated credit matters, among other areas. Gerard Saviola and Alexandra Davidson jointly head the team, with Saviola acting for institutional and boutique sponsors in Europe, Africa and developing markets. Alexander Chester advises on fund formation, secondary transactions, restructurings and co-investments, while Jonathan Bray is experienced in both closed-ended and open-ended private funds, club funds and secondaries. Lily Marcel is another key practitioner, who is recommended for real estate and sustainability-focused funds.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'Gerard Saviola and his team are simply fantastic.'
'Unique market knowledge - they see a huge amount of fund activity and give wide insight into the market and terms both for LPs and GPs.'
'Gerard Saviola - superb market knowledge and insight.'
'Jonathan Bray - hard-working and gets things done.'

Key clients

BentallGreenOak
Ares Management Limited
CBRE Investment Management
M&G Investment Management Limited
DRC Savills Investment Management LLP
Hillwood Investment Properties
AIG
Macquarie Asset Management
DWS
EQT Exeter

Work highlights

Advising BentallGreenOak on simultaneous fundraisings of all UK and EU debt mandates across their platform.
Advising Ares on its first European open-ended real estate debt funds.
Advised CBRE Investment Management with respect to the launch of its flagship EMEA logistics platform.