Morton Fraser advises on ‘challenging’ £20m property sale

The Morton Fraser team, led by lawyers Elspeth Carson and David Stewart, dealt with all property and construction elements of the sale of the Fountainbridge student accommodation block to Gatehouse Bank.

The sale represents the disposal of the last Scottish property in the UK Value 1 Fund.

Property lawyer Stuart Dick and construction specialist Jonathan Seddon were also part of the team, which has been involved in buying, financing, managing and now selling the Scottish assets for the UK Value 1 Fund since it was set up in 2009.

The Scottish law firm has now advised on purchases and sales for Rockspring totalling over £360 million over the past year alone.

Previous transactions include last month’s £56 million purchase of 1 Tanfield, a 190,000 square foot office building in Edinburgh; the acquisition of Glasgow’s Guildhall for around £29 million in September; and the sale of Rockspring’s ‘Tiger’ portfolio of regional shopping centres for around £260 million.

David Stewart, real estate partner at Morton Fraser, said: “The Fountainbridge sale is the fourth major investment deal that the Morton Fraser Real Estate team have completed for Rockspring recently which adds to our track record of dealing with complex, high value assets at the very top end of the Scottish investment market.

“The deal involved a challenging mix of Sharia-compliant finance and corporate restructuring by the purchaser, but we are delighted to have secured the sale for our client.”

Richard Bains, Rockspring partner and fund manager of the UK Value series, added: “We are pleased to have concluded the sale of Fountainbridge which represents a further example of how we have been able to create value for our UK Value 1 investors.”