International law firm Trowers & Hamlins is pleased to have advised London-listed investment management group, Rasmala and KAMCO of Kuwait on the acquisition of Amazon's largest UK distribution warehouse, located in Dunfermline, Fife.
The £54m deal marks Rasmala's fourth UK commercial property deal in less than 18 months and is the biggest of its deals so far.
The Property is entirely let to Amazon UK Services Ltd, the UK operations of Amazon Inc. It is Amazon’s largest distribution hub in the UK at over 1m sq ft, executing 3 in 8 of all parcel deliveries throughout the UK. The Property was purpose built for Amazon’s services with a strategic location close to Edinburgh and Edinburgh Airport.
Abdul-Haq Mohammed, Head of International Real Estate at Trowers & Hamlins, commented:
"This deal represents Rasmala's biggest deal yet in the UK property market. They have now completed four deals in the space of an eventful 18 months for the UK economy. Our ability to draw upon experts in real estate, tax and Islamic finance, based in our London and Middle East offices is an important part of our offering to overseas clients. We are grateful also to Burness Paull for their excellent support on Scots law matters."
Naseer Aka, Head of Real Estate at Rasmala, said:
"We are delighted to have worked with Trowers and Hamlins on our largest UK transaction since the expansion of our real estate business in 2015. Trowers and Hamlins have successfully acted for us on 4 acquisitions to date. We extend our gratitude to the London and Bahrain teams for their continued support in developing our platform, and to the Burness Paull team in Scotland for assisting on this particular transaction."
Trowers & Hamlins' advice on the acquisition included a complex, tax efficient debt and equity structure, accommodating investment from the GCC, as well as the property deal and Islamic financing itself.
The firm previously advised Rasmala on the purchase of the EE Building at Doxford Business Park in Sunderland, the Airbus Premises, at Celtic Springs Business Park in Newport and Abbvie House in Maidenhead.
Trowers & Hamlins' team was led by Abdul-Haq Mohammed and included Real Estate partner Sangita Unadkat and Banking and Finance partner Sarah Gooden, along with senior associates Tom Reynolds and Simon Valner.
Trowers & Hamlins' Real Estate practice is widely recognised for its expertise in inward investment into UK real estate from the Middle East and Asia and in Islamic finance. It recently won Real Estate Team of the Year at Legal Week's prestigious Corporate Counsel Middle East Awards 2016.
