Michael Wistow
Co-Head of PERE & Global Head of Tax
Michael Wistow is a highly regarded international and domestic tax lawyer with an established practice with more than 20 years as a partner at top law firms, including Clifford Chance and Berwin Leighton Paisner. Michael is widely-recognised for his work and has been inducted into The Legal 500’s Hall of Fame.
What we say about Michael
Michael has a deep understanding of corporate, finance, funds, PE, restructuring and real estate transactions with particular specialisations in the real estate and finance industries.
Michael’s practice is transactional, structuring and advisory in nature. He acts for a plethora of clients including investment banks, SWF, pension funds, family offices and PERE funds.
He leads on structuring and executing transactions particularly in the real estate and finance industry space, while also providing clients with advice on a breadth of complex (often international) tax matters, including securitisation, corporate acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures, funds and REIT structures.
Examples of some transactions on which he has advised include:
PERE and RE Structured Finance
- MSREF/Greycoat on the JV acquisition of a prop co with a complex securitisation history and related redevelopment
- A major pension fund investor’s JV transaction and securitised bond restructuring and REIT structuring in the residential space
- RBS on structuring and executing the £1.4bn Isobel JV and securitisations with Blackstone using an innovative onshore structure
- Oaktree on tax on the SACO disposal
- Structured and led the student accommodation “pipeline structure” from land acquisition and construction through to disposal to a REIT post PC
- Blackstone on the JV and acquisition of 50% of the securitised Broadgate portfolio from British Land and subsequent disposal to a joint venture REIT between British Land and GIC’
- A SWF on the JV and acquisition of 50% of the securitised Meadow hall shopping centre
- Hammerson on its complex restructuring ahead of REIT conversion
- UK REIT takeover structuring for a major PE client and advising the UK REIT, Quintain, on tax on its takeover by Lonestar
- Canary Wharf on tax for many years including development, leasing, financing, securitisations, disposals, acquisitions, IPO, takeover and the “Walkie-Talkie” building JV with Land Securities plus residential structuring on Wood Wharf and Shell Centre forward sales
- Allied London on the complex, multi phase financing/securitisation of the CJC in Spinningfields
- JP Morgan Asset Management on the corporate acquisition and subsequent disposal of the HSBC tower in Canary Wharf
- Structured and led tax efficient securitisations of various classes of UK real estate and also executed tax neutral real estate or whole business securitisations for the likes of Land Securities, Sainsbury’s, British Land, M&S and Unique pubs
PE/M&A Tax Instructions
- EIG’s JV with Chrysaor on the $3bn acquisition of Shell North Sea assets
- PPF on the multi billion Euro auction bid for InBev’s CEE assets
- PPF on the €2.8bn acquisition of Telenor’s CEE assets
- Lightsource’s JV with BP
- M&A deals for Balfour Beatty, Johnson Matthey and BUPA
- A bulge bracket investment bank – 4 PE and 2 finance deal
- Carry structuring for 2 PE funds
Financing Tax Instructions
- JP Morgan on both the £2bn and £1.5bn Mandatory Exchangeable Bond issues over Anglo American shares
- GSO on numerous complex pan-European lending transactions
- CLO deals for SocGen, CS, MS, BAML and others
- Bank of China on the €6bn pan-European Logicor financing
- Pan-European REF deals for GS, BAML and Nomura