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published NOVEMBER 24, 2009

SJ Berwin advises Invesco Real Estate on the acquisition of the Radisson Hotel in Hamburg

International law firm SJ Berwin’s real estate department has advised the European hotel fund of Invesco Real Estate, the global real estate investment management firm, on the acquisition of the Radisson Blu Hotel in Hamburg, Germany for €155m. The vendor was the Azure Group. This acquisition is the fund’s most significant purchase to date and the result of an earlier forward purchase agreement signed prior to Azure Group completing an approximate €50m renovation on the hotel. The 4-star hotel will continue to be operated by the Azure Group and managed under the Radisson flag by Rezidor, the international hotel chain. The hotel is 120m tall, with 560 guest rooms, conference and meeting facilities, restaurants, and a ballroom, bar lounge and a spa as well as ample parking fully refurbished to a high standard. It is in an exceptional location adjacent to the Hamburg congress centre (CCH) in the Planten and Blomen Park, and next to the city’s ICE high-speed train Dammtor station and within walking distance of the Hamburg trade fair grounds and city centre with its retail attractions and CBD. Hamburg is a key hotel market as it is Germany’s second largest city, Europe’s second largest marine port and benefits from excellent trading infrastructure. The purchase of the hotel is in line with Invesco’s hotel fund’s investment strategy of expanding its diversified pan-European portfolio of acquiring leased 3* to 4* hotels and is the 12th acquisition for the fund to date and its third in Germany. The SJ Berwin team was led in the UK by real estate partner David Ryland, assisted by Associate Steven Cowins and by Hans Thomas Kessler in Germany, assisted by Benjamin Klinkert. Azure Group was advised by Christian Thiele and Juergen Huebner of Latham & Watkins. SJ Berwin had advised Invesco on the establishment and closing of the European hotel fund and its subsequent European hotel acquisition programme. The firm has a focused Hotel group and has continually been ranked as a leading hotel firm by Chambers UK guide for the last nine years and has been in the top category of firms for “hotels” in the four most recent editions of Legal 500.