SITQ Immobilier and SL Green Acquire Building in New York

On May 15, 2002, SITQ Immobilier, a member of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec real estate group, together with SL Green Realty Corp., a U.S. public real estate investment trust, completed the acquisition of The 1515 Broadway building in New York. The transaction is valued at almost US$500 million.

The acquisition was accomplished through a pre-packaged bankruptcy reorganization under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. As a result of the transaction, SITQ acquired an approximately 45 per cent interest in the property, and SL Green and other investors acquired or retained the remainder.

SITQ’s legal team was led by in-house counsel Claude Molleur, and included a team from Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, that included Pierre-André Themens, Roert Abrams and Alan Golden in Montreal, and James Guadiana, Marc Berger and Charles Malone in New York. SL Green’s legal team was led by Robert Ivanhoe of Greenberg Traurig, and Craig Solomon of Solomon and Weinberg, both in New York. The Greenberg Traurig team also included Stephen Rabinowitz on the acqusition, Judy Fryer handled corporate and securities matters for SL Green and SITQ, and Howard Berman represented the purchasers in the bankruptcy case. The Solomon and Weinberg team also included Gary Kleinman, Howard Shapiro and Nicole Fenton.

Tax advice for SITQ was also provided for by James Guadiana and his team at Davies Ward in New York. Bennett Deutsch of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood provided tax advice for SL Green.

Equitable Life Insurance was represented by Jonathan Mechanic and Jonathon Yormak of Fried Frank Harris Trevor & Jacobson in New York. Stuart Rosow of Proskauer Rose represented the debtor on tax matters and Scott Rutsky, also of the firm, represented the debtor in the bankruptcy case.