Foot Anstey’s Islamic Finance team advise on hat-trick of high-profile deals

The Islamic Finance team at national law firm, Foot Anstey LLP has advised on three major deals over the last month.

The team's trio of deals has included advising Bahrain-based institutional investor Black Sand Real Estate W.L.L on a £42m corporate acquisition, acting for Riyad Bank (London Branch) on a £17.5m refinance of a fully-let Grade A office asset, and advising Bank of London & The Middle East (BLME) on its new terms and conditions for the first Islamic international digital bank, Nomo.

Leading on the corporate acquisition for Black Sand Real Estate was Partner, Zahir Nayani, Legal Director, Karl Bradford and Senior Associate, Lingxi Wang. The deal, underpinned by a £42m, 300-bed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) asset located in Kington Upon Thames, involved a multi-discipline team from across Foot Anstey advising on all elements of the transaction, including investment structuring, real estate and finance.  Senior debt was provided by ADIB UK.

Acting on behalf of Riyad Bank (London Branch), Zahir Nayani, Partner, and Kate Amos, Associate, led the £17.5m refinancing to Capital Trust Group of a Grade A office asset known as Kao One in Harlow, Essex, comprising 127,000 SF of accommodation. 

Zahir Nayani, Partner at Foot Anstey, said: "Both of these transactions signify the enduring appeal to both funders and investors of resilient, well-located real estate assets which demonstrate excellent fundamentals. PBSA remains a compelling investment class bolstered by UK demographic trends and sustained international student appetite, whilst office assets let to occupiers with robust covenant strength continue to deliver."

Partners, Imam Qazi and Anna Parker, as well as Senior Associate, Jos Style, supported BLME's recent need to create new terms and conditions for the launch of Nomo, the first international Islamic digital bank. Foot Anstey provides specialist Private Wealth advice relating to potentially complex issues caused by the death or incapacity of a customer residing overseas.

Foot Anstey's team effectively collaborated with BLME’s other key legal advisors to provide a consistent and on time product to support the launch of Nomo.

Imam Qazi, Partner and Head of Islamic Finance at Foot Anstey said: "Continuing the team's upwards trajectory, the past month has been an incredible one for the Islamic Finance team. We are seeing rising activity in the market and demand for our advisory services. All three of these instructions presented us with a chance to bring together the best of Foot Anstey and achieve the outcome our clients desired"

To find out more about Foot Anstey's services please visit https://www.footanstey.com/about/ or connect with the firm here https://www.footanstey.com/contact/.

All team members and external advisors included in the deals:

Black Sand Real Estate

• Foot Anstey – Zahir Nayani, Karl Bradford, Lingxi Wang, Emma Clayton, Maisie Hodges, Ben Neville, Alex Leonidou, Mark Searle, Claire Holland, Kevin Lau, Brian Hitchcock and Liam Henderson.
• Taylor Wessing – Seller
• CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang – Bank (ADIB UK)
• Dentons – Equity investor
• Walkers – Guernsey & Cayman Counsel for Black Sand Real Estate and Bank

Riyad Bank

• Foot Anstey – Zahir Nayani and Kate Amos
• Dentons English lawyers for Riyad Bank
• Collas Crill – Guernsey lawyers for RBL
• Carey Olsen – Guernsey lawyer for Riyad Bank

BLME

• Foot Anstey – Imam Qazi, Anna Parker and Jos Style
• Simmons and Simmons
• PwC