Lovells

Lovells CIS has advised Ede & Ravenscroft, a renowned British manufacturer of clothes, on the 20-year lease of a retail store in downtown St. Petersburg to ZAO Zara CIS, a Russian subsidiary of a major Spanish manufacturer of clothes.  

Ede & Ravenscroft ("E&R"), through its Russian subsidiary, owns a 6-storey property in downtown St. Petersburg that is located at Nevsky Prospekt, in the very heart of the second largest Russian city. This property has been fully refurbished and transformed into a high-class retail and office centre. The refurbishment of the property started in 2005 and was completed in the summer of 2008.  

E&R has agreed a 20 year lease to ZAO Zara CIS ("Zara"), the Russian subsidiary of the renowned Spanish clothes manufacturer. Zara will run a retail store occupying levels 1 to 4 of the building. The store will be the flagship for operations of Zara in St. Petersburg, and this lease is a pivotal deal for expansion of Zara's presence and operations in the north-western region of Russia.  

According to international real estate commercial experts, this transaction is one of the first (or probably even the first) 20-year leases of retail stores of such class in St. Petersburg, and this deal is one of the most high-profile in the retail segment of the city in terms of the lease period, status of the contractual parties and the overall amount of rental payments.   

Lovells CIS has been advising E&R on this project from the outset preparing the drafts of the letter of intent, preliminary lease agreement and the lease agreement and negotiating them with Zara. In addition Lovells CIS has advised E&R on various issues related to the refurbishment of the property currently leased to Zara.   The 20-year lease agreement was executed by the parties on 10 October 2008.     

The Lovells CIS team was led by the Consultant Taras Oksyuk, the head of the Moscow real estate practice, who works closely with Oxana Balayan, the Managing Partner of the Moscow office. Taras was assisted by Natalia Miroshnichenko, an associate.  

Oxana Balayan said:  

"We are delighted to have acted for E&R, our long-standing client, on this important and most notable project in St. Petersburg. We look forward to developing what is proving to be a successful relationship with E&R. This project reinforces Lovells' reputation as one of the leading counsel on real estate transactions in Russia and globally."

Notes to editors  

Our successful Moscow office was established in 1997. Today Lovells CIS is one of the leading law firms in Russia and has built a very strong legal practice serving the needs of Russian and international clients. Lovells CIS focuses on six main practice areas: corporate including M&A, banking, capital markets, real estate, intellectual property and dispute resolution. Lovells CIS comprises a team of more than 90 people including over 50 Russian and expatriate lawyers.  

About Lovells  

With over 3,000 people operating from 26 offices in Asia, Europe and the United States, Lovells is one of the world's leading international law firms. We advise many of the world's largest corporations, financial institutions and governmental organisations.  We regularly act on complex, multi jurisdictional transactions as well as some of the most high profile commercial disputes.  Lovells (the "firm") is an international legal practice comprising Lovells LLP and its affiliated businesses.  Lovells LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC323639.  Registered office and principal place of business: Atlantic House, Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2FG.  

The word "partner" is used to refer to a member of Lovells LLP, or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications, and to a partner, member, employee or consultant in any of its affiliated businesses who has equivalent standing.  

www.lovells.com