Key Takeaways
- • Latham & Watkins advised on all four regional Deals of the Year across PERE's 2025 awards program, sweeping Global, North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific categories—a rare concentration of recognition across all major geographies.
- • The Global Deal of the Year, Ares Management's $3.7 billion acquisition of GCP International, positions Ares Real Estate as one of the world's largest vertically integrated real assets platforms.
- • ESR Group Limited's $7.1 billion take-private acquisition by a consortium led by Starwood Capital Group, Sixth Street, and SSW Partners represents the largest Hong Kong Stock Exchange privatization since 2021, anchoring Latham's Asia-Pacific recognition.
- • Latham represented three distinct buyer constituencies across the four deals—Ares Management, Apollo Global Management (acquiring Bridge Investment Group's $1.5 billion platform), and an international consortium—demonstrating broad institutional confidence in the firm's execution capabilities.
- • The transaction portfolio spans multiple real estate sectors including industrial logistics (ESR), care homes (Vitalia), and diversified real estate platforms, reflecting robust deal flow across subsectors within the PE real estate market.
Summary
Latham & Watkins achieved a significant competitive milestone by advising on all four deals recognized as Deals of the Year across PERE's 2025 awards program, spanning Global, North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific categories. This sweep underscores the firm's prominence in institutional-scale real estate private equity transactions during a period of considerable capital deployment in the sector.
The Global Deal of the Year, valued at $3.7 billion, involved Ares Management's acquisition of GCP International. Latham represented Ares in the transaction, which established Ares Real Estate as one of the largest globally vertically integrated real assets platforms. This deal reflects continued institutional appetite for scale consolidation within diversified real estate portfolios, a strategic pattern common among mega-fund managers seeking operational leverage and geographic diversification.
In North America, Latham represented Bridge Investment Group in its $1.5 billion take-private acquisition by Apollo Global Management. The transaction expanded Apollo's real estate equity platform and reflects the trend of larger institutions acquiring established mid-market real estate investment vehicles to enhance scale and market positioning.
Europe's Deal of the Year centered on StepStone Group's joint venture with Greykite and the acquisition and recapitalization of Vitalia, Spain's second-largest care home provider, from CVC Capital Partners and Portobello Capital for €1.5 billion. Latham represented StepStone in this transaction, demonstrating advisory depth in essential infrastructure subsectors and cross-border European transactions.
The Asia-Pacific Deal of the Year—ESR Group Limited's $7.1 billion take-private acquisition—represented the largest Hong Kong Stock Exchange privatization since 2021. Latham advised the investor consortium, which was led by Starwood Capital Group, Sixth Street, and SSW Partners and also included QIA, Warburg Pincus, and ESR's founders. This transaction reflected significant capital mobilization from both established real estate-focused sponsors and diversified institutional capital, underscoring ESR's prominence within Asian logistics and real estate infrastructure.
The Global Deal of the Year, valued at $3.7 billion, involved Ares Management's acquisition of GCP International. Latham represented Ares in the transaction, which established Ares Real Estate as one of the largest globally vertically integrated real assets platforms. This deal reflects continued institutional appetite for scale consolidation within diversified real estate portfolios, a strategic pattern common among mega-fund managers seeking operational leverage and geographic diversification.
In North America, Latham represented Bridge Investment Group in its $1.5 billion take-private acquisition by Apollo Global Management. The transaction expanded Apollo's real estate equity platform and reflects the trend of larger institutions acquiring established mid-market real estate investment vehicles to enhance scale and market positioning.
Europe's Deal of the Year centered on StepStone Group's joint venture with Greykite and the acquisition and recapitalization of Vitalia, Spain's second-largest care home provider, from CVC Capital Partners and Portobello Capital for €1.5 billion. Latham represented StepStone in this transaction, demonstrating advisory depth in essential infrastructure subsectors and cross-border European transactions.
The Asia-Pacific Deal of the Year—ESR Group Limited's $7.1 billion take-private acquisition—represented the largest Hong Kong Stock Exchange privatization since 2021. Latham advised the investor consortium, which was led by Starwood Capital Group, Sixth Street, and SSW Partners and also included QIA, Warburg Pincus, and ESR's founders. This transaction reflected significant capital mobilization from both established real estate-focused sponsors and diversified institutional capital, underscoring ESR's prominence within Asian logistics and real estate infrastructure.
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