Conygar Investment Company plc seeks Gowling WLG's assistance on sale of investment property portfolio

At the start of 2017, Conygar Investment Company plc (Conygar) enlisted the aid of a cross-sector team at Gowling WLG to advise it on its disposal of the Special Purposes Vehicles (SPVs) that owned its investment property portfolio to Regional Commercial Midco Limited (Regional).

Regional is the wholly owned subsidiary of Regional REIT Limited, who parted with approximately £130 million for the investment property portfolio. As part of the transaction, Regional agreed to assume the obligations and liabilities owned by Conygar to its subsidiary, Conygar ZDP, who as a separate entity has its zero divided preference shares listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Corporate partner Nick Heather and tax partner Michael Murphy led on the deal, assisted by principal associate Amar Adatia and associate Vijan Ghedia. In real estate, partners Huw Roberts and Sarah Galvin, assisted by associate Natasha Brown, advised Conygar.

The complex restructuring required prior consent of Conygar's shareholders, as well as the holders of the zero divided preference shares. The resulting disposal ensures Conygar is now debt-free and able to concentrate on significant development projects.