Islamic finance specialists in the Bristol office of law firm Foot Anstey have advised real estate investor Greenridge Investment Management on two significant and complex transactions.
The deals include the £77m acquisition of US multinational conglomerate 3M’s European headquarters in Bracknell and the £48.3m acquisition of the NHS National Services Division HQ in Edinburgh. 
Both transactions involved structured Islamic financing arranged by Manchester-based Broadoak Real Estate Finance as well as shariah-compliant investment from a leading investment institution in Kuwait.
Foot Anstey head of Islamic finance Imam Qazi, pictured, said: “We were delighted to assist with the smooth completion of these deals for Greenridge, who are a very active investor in the real estate market and have a keen eye for outstanding investment opportunities.
“These deals further demonstrate the specialist capability of our team on structured Islamic financing and investment transactions.”
Greenridge co-director Bik Bhuptani added: “The fact that we exchanged contracts on both of these acquisitions within 10 working days of agreeing the deals is a great testament to our internal and external professional teams.
“Foot Anstey went that extra mile with their hard work, tenacity and dedication. Having acquired some £230m of stock since September 2015, we are targeting another £750m of acquisitions in the next 18 months.”
The Foot Anstey team working on the deals was led by Imam Qazi and supported by senior associate Zahir Nayani. The deals involved lawyers from across the firm including banking partner Will Whitt and real estate partner and Scottish law specialist Paul Clark – both also based in its Bristol office.
Foot Anstey’s Islamic finance team has recently advised on a string of similar financing and investment deals for shariah-compliant banks and investors across multiple jurisdictions.
The transactions follow the team’s success at the Islamic Finance News’ Lawyer Awards where it was runner-up in the global real estate category. It also climbed up the rankings in the Legal 500 – the law sector’s respected annual publication.
