Cowgills advise AIMS Investments as they take majority stake in residential property developers Beech

This week saw our real estate client AIMS Investments take a majority stake in Manchester residential property developer Beech. AIMS Investments is one of the largest private and public equity investors in Saudi Arabia.

Securing this extremely complex transaction involved many of our colleagues across our corporate finance, tax and compliance teams.

The new partnership with AIMS Investments will enable Beech to bring forward the construction of more than 1,000 apartments with a GDV of around £250m.

Commenting in the press this week Abdulaziz Albassam, chief executive of AIMS Investments, said: “After working with Beech over the past year and developing a relationship with the team, we sought to expand our commitment, investing in their people and talent to form a powerful platform for residential development throughout the UK market.

“Our investment is a sign of our long term commitment to the UK real estate market, as well as our confidence in the ability of Beech to grow to become a major UK residential developer that delivers high quality products to its customers.”

Cowgills’ Stuart Stead added: “We’ve been working with AIMS for over two years and during that time we have come to know them well and understand the value they place on creating lasting partnerships.”

Corporate Finance partner Sam Davies who led the transaction for Cowgills added: “To secure this deal under lockdown conditions is testament to the strength of that partnership and the extraordinary breadth of knowledge we have across our business particularly within our specialist real estate team. It was a very complicated transaction delivered under a tight time table, that benefitted from having an excellent legal team lead by Shelly McGivern of AG Manchester (Addleshaw Goddard).

“The feedback from the client was that both teams worked seamlessly together and consistently provided professional and clear advice, coupled with a concerted effort over many long hours to achieve a great final result.”