Expertise

Ara is a Managing Associate in the Real Estate Finance team in London.  He has extensive experience acting for senior and mezzanine lenders, investors, developers and high-net worth individuals on a number of complex domestic and cross-border deals (both real estate investment and development finance transactions) across a range of real estate asset classes including hotels, student accommodation, PRS, offices and retail.

Ara's experience includes secondments to Canary Wharf Group and LaSalle Investment Management.

Highlights include advising:

• Maybourne Hotel Group on the refinancing of Claridge’s, The Berkeley and The Connaught hotels
• the family office of a prominent Middle Eastern investor on the refinancing of the InterContinental London Park Lane hotel
• the borrower on the refinancing of the St Martins Lane, anderson and Churchill Hyatt hotels
• a private Middle Eastern investor on its purchase of 1 New Fetter Lane, London 
• French real estate investment company Foncière des Régions’ hotel subsidiary Foncière des Murs on the acquisition (and the related financing) of 14 four and five-star hotels from Starwood Capital
• the investment arm of a global insurance company in relation to the refinancing of four student accommodation development projects in Sheffield, Leeds, Southampton and Cardiff and a private rented sector project in Leeds
• a European investment company on a development facility used to construct two office blocks in Southwark
• Puma Investments on a development facility used to develop a hotel (built using modular construction) operated by Hilton
• Really Useful Theatres Group on its term and revolving facilities secured on six commercial theatres in London's West End
• LaSalle Investment Management as mezzanine lender on a development facility provided to Ability Group to refurbish a hotel operated by Hilton
• Venn Partners on a facility provided by PRS Finance plc to Invesco Real Estate to refinance a portfolio of 580 purpose-built PRS units located in Bracknell, Exeter, Bedford, Crawley and Stevenage