NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Oct 31, 2011) - Cooley LLP announced today that a team of attorneys from its New York and Reston offices recently closed the acquisition of a $380 million pool of distressed real estate loans from Banco Popular for Cooley's client, the Caribbean Property Group. The loans are secured by commercial properties in Puerto Rico. Banco Popular provided acquisition and additional financing lines for the transaction and retained an equity ownership in the purchaser. The Caribbean Property Group acquired the distressed loans in a joint venture with several institutional investment partners.
This was the second-largest debt portfolio acquisition completed by the Caribbean Property Group this year. Mark Lipschutz, the CEO of the Caribbean Property Group, commented, "I am extremely pleased that Cooley, through its experience, has a real understanding of what is and is not important in these distressed debt deals, which is so critical when you are acquiring hundreds of troubled loans."
The Cooley team was led by Thomas O'Connor, who heads the Real Estate group and included corporate partner Ben Pierson, tax partner Lesse Castleberry, special counsel Maureen Hannon and associates Peter Crain, Michael Estreicher, Erin Ramana and Michelle Schulman.
About Cooley LLP
Cooley's 650 attorneys have an entrepreneurial spirit and deep, substantive experience, and are committed to solving clients' most challenging legal matters. From small companies with big ideas to international enterprises with diverse legal needs, Cooley has the breadth of legal resources to enable companies of all sizes to seize opportunities in today's global marketplace. The firm represents clients across a broad array of dynamic industry sectors, including technology, life sciences, venture capital, clean energy, real estate and retail.
The firm has full-service offices in major business and technology centers across the United States: Palo Alto, CA, New York, NY, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA, Reston, VA, Broomfield, CO, Washington, DC, Boston, MA and Seattle, WA.
Contact Information:
Ashley Kanigher
(415) 693-2003