The Bristol office of international law firm Osborne Clarke has demonstrated its global reach by advising on the closure of a major cross-border property fund.
A team led by Bristol-based partner Tim Simmonds, pictured, worked with Nordic real estate private equity firm Niam on the close of its €800m (£615m) equity (€2bn geared) opportunistic property fund, Niam Nordic VI. 
The equity commitments came from a mixture of investors, including global public and corporate pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and financial institutions. It is the single largest Nordic opportunistic property fund to date.
Tim Simmonds was assisted by associate director Helen Parsonage, senior associate Seema Chandaria and associate Lizette Hunter.
Mr Simmonds, who has advised Sweden-based Niam on its funds for five years, said: “The close of this funding has been a year in the making, working with multiple investors across the world.
“In 2012 Niam’s fifth fund was the largest funding we’d worked on. It’s been a real pleasure accompanying Niam on the next stage of its record-breaking journey.
“This was a truly international project. The client is based in Stockholm, elements of the structure are based in Nevada in the US and the investors come from North America, the Middle East, the Far East and Europe. However as far as our team is concerned, everything was done remotely by email and conference calls right from our base in Bristol.”
Niam head of investor relations Jennifer Andersson added: “Considering the amount of parties involved and the timeframe, it’s a real feat by Tim and the team at Osborne Clarke to have completed one of the smoothest fundraisers that I have been involved with.”
Osborne Clarke employs around 400 people at its Bristol offices in Temple Quay.
