LAWFUEL – The Law Firm Newswire – Clifford Chance US LLP today announced that it is advising Gramercy Capital Corp “Gramercy” on its recently reported agreement to acquire American Financial Realty Trust “American Financial” for approximately $3.4 billion, which includes the assumption of American Financial’s outstanding debt. The Clifford Chance team is being led by New York based M&A partner Karl Roessner and corporate finance partner Larry Medvinsky.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Gramercy will acquire all of American Financial’s common stock for per share consideration of $5.50 in cash and 0.12096 shares of Gramercy common stock. This exchange ratio is fixed. Upon closing, American Financial’s shareholders are expected to own approximately 31% of Gramercy’s outstanding shares. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by both Gramercy’s and American Financial’s stockholders.
American Financial is a self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States. It acquires and operates properties leased to regulated financial institutions, including Bank of America and Wachovia, two of the nation’s five largest banks, among others. Gramercy is managed by SL Green Realty Corp., New York City’s largest office property owner.
Clifford Chance has a longstanding relationship with SL Green and its affiliates. The Firm advised SL Green in its acquisition of Reckson Associates Realty Corp., for approximately $6.0 billion, which closed in January 2007. Clifford Chance has also been counsel to Gramercy since its IPO in 2004.
In addition to advising Gramercy, Clifford Chance’s US M&A practice recently assisted Mapfre S.A. of Spain on its agreement to acquire US insurer The Commerce Group, Inc. for approximately $2.77 billion and Siemens Medical Solutions’ purchase of Chicago-based Dade Behring Holdings Inc., for approximately $7 billion.
Clifford Chance is one of the world’s leading law firms, helping clients achieve their goals by combining the highest global standards with local expertise. The firm has unrivalled scale and depth of legal resources across the three key markets of the Americas, Asia and Europe and focuses on the core areas of commercial activity: capital markets; corporate and M&A; finance and banking; real estate; tax; pensions and employment; litigation and dispute resolution. Clifford Chance has 27 offices in 20 countries and 3,800 legal advisers.
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