The real estate market in Moscow and other large Russian cities has been developing rapidly and remains one of the most attractive markets across Europe. Stable, high demand on the Russian real estate market has given rise to promising new forms of commercial real estate, and increased the number, size and quality of development projects. The returns of developers and investors in Russia dramatically outpace the returns of their European peers, which encourages large foreign players to enter the Russian market independently or to buy into the Russian developers.
However, participants in the real estate market face numerous market, financial, tax and legal risks. Real estate transactions require extensive transaction documentation and are subject to permits/approvals from various administrative authorities. The purchase or lease of land lots often requires change of permitted use and reclassification of land or land plots from one category to another. These time- and labour-consuming procedures need qualified legal support, which is necessary even at the preparation stage of a real estate transaction: legal due diligence of title and structuring of transactions help to mitigate the associated legal risks.
We at PricewaterhouseCoopers CIS Law Offices B.V. have extensive experience advising our clients on the whole range of real estate-related issues. Our approach to services is to help you maximize effectiveness of transactions. Our lawyers are recommended by the foremost law firm ratings agencies.
We will help you to:
- carry out a major purchase/sale of real estate or a holder of assets;
- lease/let/prelet real estate;
- buy or lease a land plot in Russia;
- successfully implement a development project;
- acquire a stake in a Russian development company.
We provide a wide range of services in the area of real estate including transaction structuring (under Russian and foreign law) and resolution of complex issues associated with real estate transactions teaming with professionals from corporate finance and tax practices of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
How PwC can help
- Real estate transactions (structuring, acquisition, ownership and disposal of real estate);
- Debt and project finance for real estate transactions and protection against hostile take-overs;
- Legal due diligence of corporate documents and titles (including development and construction in progress);
- Drafting and review of transaction documents (in particular, sale-purchase contracts relating to assets or holders of assets), review and assessment of legal risks;
- Legal counsel on leases and sale-lease back transactions, tenant and landlord representation in commercial leases;
- Structuring and preparation of transaction documents for presales, prelets and other contracts for development projects (including construction in progress);
- Legal counsel on land acquisition matters for land development, redevelopment projects and reclassification of lands from one category to another;
- Transaction structuring and preparation of draft documents for disposal/sale of real estate or asset holding companies.
Projects of PricewaterhouseCoopers CIS Law Offices B.V.
- We advised a large Russian investor on the sale of a downtown Moscow Class A business centre, with a total area of 11,500 square meters, to a leading Russian bank (transaction structuring, legal advice, drafting of the contract under English law and negotiations, completion).
- We acted as a legal counsel for a recognised UK investment fund in a number of acquisitions of office properties and warehouses with a total area of ca. 100,000 square meters, in St. Petersburg, Moscow and the Moscow Region (legal due diligence, prepearation of transaction documentation, negotiations and leases).
- We represented the largest Russian oil and gas company in agreeing the heads of terms, preliminary lease and master lease for 12,800 square meters of office space in a Class A office building.
- We assisted a large Russian development company in preparing preliminary and master leases with respect to approx. 200,000 square meters of office space in a Moscow office building.
- We acted as a legal counsel for a large US investment fund in setting up a joint venture for the development of office, commercial and warehouse real estate in Russia.
- We advised leading multinational companies on legal matters associated with acquisition of land plots for new development projects (brownfields and greenfields) and redevelopment of the existing properties in the Leningrad Oblast, Moscow Region and Nizhniy Novgorod Region.
