In May 2019, Oxford Properties Group and PSP Investments annonced the sale of 1250 René-Lévesque West, a AAA trophy office tower in Montreal, for a purchase price of $605,000,000, the largest single-asset real estate transaction of 2019 in Quebec and certainly one of the largest in Canada.
The transaction involved a complex restructuration effected immediately prior to closing, in order to unwind an existing partnership and emphyteutic lease structure for various tax considerations, as well as a “port” of a part of the existing debt on the asset to minimize yield maintenance costs on the loan repayment. The transaction was structured to maximize efficiency and certainty of execution, with the PSA being signed out-of-due diligence and closed within 40 days, including completing the reorganization, obtaining competition act approvals and purchaser’s financing.
A Fasken team led by Nicolas Leblanc, including Riccardo Lento, Nathalie Lauzier (Real Estate), Antonella Penta (Corporate), Claude Jodoin (Tax), Douglas C. New, Chris Margison and Jenna L. Ward (Competition) acted on behalf of Oxford Properties Group and PSP Investments in this transaction.
