Winston & Strawn appointed real estate finance specialist Richard Semple as a partner in the transactions department in its expanding London office.
Semple brings extensive experience advising sponsor, borrower and lender clients on real estate finance transactions across the UK and European markets. His practice covers all aspects and all stages of domestic and cross-border real estate finance matters, including origination, acquisition, lending, syndication, securitization, asset management, refinancing, disposal, restructuring and distressed debt investing.
Semple has acted on a wide range of high-value, complex deals. His clients include global investment firms and private equity funds, for which he acts on a wide range of real estate assets, from healthcare to logistics to premium ‘Class A’ offices to distressed and non-performing loans.
In addition to advising institutional clients, Semple works with FinTechs and other alternative real estate financing providers and provides guidance on innovative real estate investments, including operational real estate, as well as restructuring and special situations matters.
“Richard’s appointment is another major milestone in the development of our finance capabilities in London,” Peter Crowther, international managing partner at Winston & Strawn, said. “His expertise and approach are a perfect fit for our firm, adding depth and geographic reach to our real estate work across Europe, especially in areas like acquisitions, divestitures, finance, distressed real estate and financial restructuring. We’re very pleased to welcome him to the team.”
“Richard has a track record of advising on some of the most sophisticated real estate finance deals in the UK and European market,” Nicholas Usher, London managing partner at Winston & Strawn, said. “His experience with large-scale, cross-border loan portfolio acquisitions and financing structures will be a real asset to our clients, particularly those navigating the growing number of opportunities in distressed asset transactions and loan workouts. Richard’s experience perfectly complements our established areas of excellence in financial transactions, and will further enhance collaboration between our London and U.S. offices.”
“Winston is building something very exciting, a team with real depth, international reach and a clear strategic vision for its finance offering,” Semple said. “I look forward to working with colleagues across the firm to support clients on their most important real estate investments, as opportunities continue to emerge across the UK and European markets.”
