We recently advised Forma Real Estate in connection with the acquisition of a mixed-use prime property on 19-31 Piccadilly, Manchester, from L&G Real Estate for approx. £23.5m.
Forma is a pan European commercial real estate fund manager. Since the launch of its first fund in 2017 Forma has raised just under Euros 400m for investment and has built a portfolio of over 20 assets. The investors in Forma’s funds are a mix of institutions, family offices and high net worth individuals.
Fladgate has acted as Forma’s main legal counsel since the commencement of the company’s UK investment programme in 2022 and, to date, has been involved in 5 acquisitions and subsequent financing and asset management activity. The buildings acquired in the UK to date have all required various degrees of active asset management, wholesale repositioning, or both.
The recent deal, led by Gideon Dabby-Joory, further diversifies Forma’s UK portfolio. The asset acquired is majority let to Travelodge as its principal Manchester hotel and benefits from additional retail/F&B income from WM Morrison, Nando’s and Zizzi.
The project required the expertise of a team from various departments, including Real Estate, Funds, Corporate, Construction, and Tax. The team members involved were Nathan Carter-Smith, Ebru Mehmet, Neal Todd, Ellie Green, Ella Leonard and Oliver Tobin.
Chris Taylor, Forma Real Estate Funds UK CEO, commented: “The Fladgate team was a pleasure to work with. Their attention to detail identified a number of legal and title challenges which required considerable legal and commercial understanding in order to resolve and ultimately enabled us to conclude a clean purchase.”
Gideon Dabby-Joory, Real Estate Partner, added: "It was a pleasure to work again with Chris Taylor Ben Dickins and their colleagues at Forma. It has been very enjoyable to help Forma with its UK journey, to help grow its presence and portfolio here as well as a great opportunity for us at Fladgate to showcase our expertise and experience in assisting private equity real estate funds with their investment programmes. We wish Forma every success and look forward to continuing to work with the team in the future."
