Expertise
Ara is a managing associate in the finance team at Addleshaw Goddard, specialising in real estate finance. 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 a secondment to LaSalle Investment Management, a leading global real estate investment manager.
Recent 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, Sanderson 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
- AIG on 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
- 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
- Puma Investments on a development facility used to develop a hotel (built using modular construction) operated by Hilton
Education
- BPP Law School: LPC, Distinction (2007)
- Queen Mary University of London: Law LLB, High 2:1 with Honours (2006)
