Eversheds Finland:
Transactions Hit Record Numbers
The Finnish real estate is red hot. According to the statistics of KTI, transaction volume in the Finnish property market reached its new annual record level with approximately EUR 6.4 billion in December 2016. The former record, dating back to 2007, was EUR 6.29 billion.
R esidential portfolios were the most
traded property sector in 2016, accounting for about 40 %( EUR 2.5 billion) of the total volume. Foreign investors account for 28 % of the total volume.
Saara Raitala, Attorney-at-Law, Partner, at Eversheds Attorneys Ltd says that the mood in the real estate market has been upbeat for a long time now – and she doesn’ t expect the strong positive trend to die down anytime soon.
“ The market is very active, with a lot of transactions in the works,” she confirms.
Energising the Field
Heading the Eversheds Transactions team, Raitala has a pretty good handle of what’ s happening in the industry. Right now, the spirit and sentiment in the real estate negotiations is very“ can-do” and deals can materialise also quite quickly. Of course, there are also those deals where there are a lot of“ moving parts” and will simply take more time to complete, no matter what.
“ Also, in the past we’ ve seen situations where negotiations keep stalling or hit a dead end – but presently, there are plenty of options in the market for the players to explore. This means that the marketplace is a very dynamic one.”
In addition, the recent trend where one or more of the negotiating parties comes from abroad keeps getting stronger. Raitala observes that international players have done their homework well and are looking – more often than not – for the long-term benefits.
“ It appears that international players want to commit to the market and want to stay here for a while. One-time deals are not very common now,” she says, adding that the role of Finland – and the Nordics – as a stable business environment certainly carries a lot of weight in the post-Brexit world.
Cut to the Chase
As the negotiations are getting increasingly cultural – there are both corporate cultures and national cultures to consider – Raitala lists the Finnish way of doing real estate business as a definite asset: Finnish real estate legislation is rather straightforward and moderate in its approach. Working under the US legislation, for instance, the documentation involved tends to gather bulk considerably more.
Legal experts are also needed, since a growing number of transactions involve joint investments – and the“ paper footprint” can be rather large in those cases, too. Raitala points out that there are Finnish companies partnering up with foreign companies as they’ re seeking investment opportunities abroad – and, also, foreign companies who are entering the Finnish market with a local partner.
Full Scope
Eversheds has done a solid job in negotiating the deals – or, at least one would think so looking at the latest customer satisfaction survey. According to the survey results of autumn 2016, 98 % of the company’ s clients are likely or very likely to recommend the company. The secret of success at Eversheds Finland lies in the expertise: at the Helsinki office, there are almost 20 lawyers focusing on real estate.
“ The scope of real estate includes – in addition to transactions – also construction, land use, environmental issues and taxation,” Raitala explains, adding that the company wants to practice“ hands-on” law. In the field of real estate, understanding the agreement is one thing, but Eversheds wants to help the client to understand also the big picture behind an individual deal, she says. l
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