CPPIB Forms Real Estate Joint Venture with the Westfield Group

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPPIB”) entered into a US real estate joint venture with the Westfield Group in a transaction that closed in Q1 of 2012. The joint venture owns 10 regional malls and two redevelopment sites, and the properties comprise over 13.5 million square-feet of leasable area primarily located in the State of California.

At the time of the transaction, the properties in the joint venture portfolio had a total gross value of US$4.8 billion, and CPPIB's equity investment of US$1.8 billion represented a 45 per cent interest in the joint venture. The Westfield Group continues to manage the assets on behalf of the joint venture.

CPPIB was represented in this transaction by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP with a team that included Toronto lawyers Greg Howard, Gabriella Lombardi, David Reiner and Pawel Mielcarek and New York lawyers Gerald Shepherd, Daniela Liscio and Chris Lankin (corporate and real estate) and Peter Glicklich and Megan Grandinetti (tax); and by local California counsel Allen Matkins' Michael Pruter.

The Westfield Group was represented by in-house counsel Peter Schwartz and Aline Taireh, and by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP with a team that included Jonathan Ko, Meryl Chae, Nicole Ostrowski, Albert Stemp, Bjorn Lundberg and Kevin Wells (corporate and real estate) and David Polster and Sarah Ralph (tax).

Lawyer(s)

David Reiner Gregory J. Howard Peter A. Glicklich Gerald D. Shepherd Gabriella Lombardi Daniela R. Liscio

Firm(s)

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP