Taylor Wessing advises on £622m sale and leaseback for Prestbury
The Corporate Real Estate Group at Taylor Wessing has advised Prestbury 1 Limited Partnership ("Prestbury") on its £622 million acquisition (via a corporate structure) and subsequent leaseback of some of the property assets of the Merlin Entertainments Group, including Madame Tussauds London, Thorpe Park, Alton Towers, Warwick Castle and Heide Park in Germany.
The properties will be leased back to Merlin, controlled by affiliates of the Blackstone Group LP, on 35-year renewable leases. Merlin will continue to operate and invest in the businesses as before, and will use the proceeds from the property sale to help fund its ambitious three-year €400 million development programme, and to repay debt incurred to fund its recent purchase of The Tussauds Group.
This latest acquisition follows closely behind Prestbury's £686 million sale and leaseback of 21 modern private hospitals across the UK from Capio AB (owned by funds controlled by Apax and Nordic Capital) in May, on which Taylor Wessing also advised.
Corporate partner at Taylor Wessing, Jayne Schnider, comments:
"Our experience in corporate real estate transactions enables us to deliver complex deals in tight timescales. This makes us a trusted adviser to many clients, including Prestbury, for whom this can create a competitive edge. It has been a fantastic experience to bring Prestbury's Tussauds and Capio deals to completion in the past three months."
The Taylor Wessing team advising Prestbury was led by Jayne Schnider, Paul Burke and Peter Jackson (Corporate), Richard Grosse and Alan Evans (Real Estate) and Dominic Ross and Marcus Earnshaw (Finance), supported by Jon Blackburn, Shirley Tan, Oliver Shipton and Omleen Ajimal (Corporate), Harriet Gold, Alistair Crichton, Louise Tobutt and Louise Marozzi (Real Estate), and Nada Jarnaz and Sarah Bullimore (Finance).
Notes to editors
For more information please contact Claire Treacy at Taylor Wessing:
Tel: +44 (0)20 7300 4925
Email: c.treacy@taylorwessing.com
Taylor Wessing LLP is a leading law firm providing legal support for commercial organisations doing business in Europe. Based in Belgium, France, Germany and the UK, Taylor Wessing provides the full range of legal services to major corporations and growing enterprises. Taylor Wessing boasts a strong reputation in the corporate, finance and real estate sectors alongside in-depth experience across the full range of legal services including intellectual property and technology, tax, litigation & dispute resolution, employment & pensions and private client.
