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Partner, Real Estate

Joanne Wright

Joanne is an experienced real estate Partner who leads the portfolio asset management team at Thomson Snell & Passmore. She has more than 20 years’ experience advising on all aspects of real estate transactions, working alongside our real estate dispute resolution team. This includes advising and assisting clients in the motor retail, office, retail and logistics and warehouse sectors, covering all aspects of general and strategic portfolio management; lettings; lease renewals; securitisation and investment and commercial development; and acquisitions and disposals.

Joanne leads the corporate support Real Estate team working closely with the firm’s corporate M&A and banking & finance teams in providing corporate support on property aspects to clients undertaking corporate acquisitions or disposals. Joanne routinely assists the corporate M&A team on complex property/large property portfolio M&A transactions in the corporate mid-market space.

Joanne always aims to understand the key strategic drivers of each transaction and the client’s aims, whilst delivering her advice in a pragmatic and commercial manner.

Joanne Wright

Specialisms & expertise

  • Property portfolio asset management for investors, retail and corporate occupiers
  • Investment and letting work for UK investors, corporate occupiers/owners and commercial developers
  • Portfolio and multi/single let acquisitions and disposals
  • Commercial landlord and tenant work
  • Real estate aspects of corporate M&A acquisitions and sales, restructuring and refinancing
  • Transport and logistics
  • Banking and Finance of commercial portfolios.

Examples of work

Leading the team advising a Pension Fund on managing and disposing of its 300+ mixed use property portfolio

Acting for a PLC and its subsidiary companies on managing their multi-million pound property portfolio

Acting for a leading motor dealership in relation to a number of acquisitions and disposals of properties and businesses throughout the UK

Leading the team acting for a well-known food retailer on new leases, re-gears and managing its property portfolio of over 100 stores throughout the UK

Acting for a PLC on the disposal of a number of its freehold sites for a value in excess of £40 million

Acting for a company on the acquisition and development of a Grade II listed building for a distillery which was officially opened by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal

Acting for a £700+ million automotive group in relation to a buy and build growth strategy of motor dealerships in the UK, culminating in the sale of the group to a large listed company

Leading a real estate team assisting the corporate M&A team assisting on the real estate aspects of a sale of a premium chilled desserts company which was founded by a Michelin starred chef to an internationally based private equity-backed developer of food products

Achievements & other appointments

Joanne speaks excellent German, having studied at the University of Göttingen for one year and undertaken a 3 month placement working at a law firm in Munich.

Joanne is a member of the Association of Women in Property.

Joanne led the Real Estate teams who supported the corporate M&A team working on the transaction that won Insider Media Dealmakers Deal of the Year (£10 m+) 2022 and also the Kent Corporate Finance Award – Deal of the Year 2021/22.

Legal 500 - uk-recommended-lawyer-2023 logo Insider Dealmakers awards 2022 winners logo Insider media property awards - shortlisted- 2023

Education

Joanne undertook a Law and German Joint Honours LLB degree at The University of Bristol and took her professional LPC exams at Nottingham law School.

Joanne trained at a City firm qualifying as a solicitor in 1998 and then worked at London firm Nabarro LLP (now CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP) before joining Thomson Snell & Passmore in 2009. Joanne became a partner in 2012.

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