Sonnenschein's Capital Market Practice is composed of attorneys who are among the most highly respected in the industry.  Drawing on experience from our Real Estate, Finance and Taxation practices, we help our clients secure the funding they need to grow and prosper.  The strength of our Capital Markets Practice lies in our ability to assist clients with the origination and acquisition of commercial real estate loans for aggregation in commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) and commercial real estate collateralized debt obligations (CRE CDO).  The group also handles matters such as acquisition of servicing rights, investment in subordinate interests, post-issuance servicing and real estate mortgage investing conduits (REMIC) compliance.  Our attorneys handle a significant volume of business with institutional lenders and servicers in a wide variety of matters each year.

Our origination experience spans a broad range of financing transactions including interim, construction and permanent fixed and floating rate financing secured by all property types.  Mezzanine lending, equity investments, structured finance, tenant in common financings and subscription facilities loan syndications and participants are also handled by our experienced professionals.  Our Capital Markets attorneys have closed more than $40 billion in securitized loans and represent national banking associations, mortgage bankers and investments banks in the nationwide origination of more than 400 transactions exceeding $6 billion in CMBS loans annually.

Sonnenschein attorneys routinely represent master and special servicers in connection with the servicing of mortgage loan pools, including loan assumptions, transfers of interests, defeasances, collateral releases, loan extensions, servicer consents and modifications, restructurings and workouts.  We advise our clients on pooling and servicing agreement compliance issues and REMIC tax issues associated with various servicing transactions, and we work closely with the rating agencies on transactions in which rating agency “no-downgrade” letters are required.  Additionally, our attorneys have significant expertise in connection with the formation and operation of securitization vehicles, including REMICs, CRE CDOs and grantor trusts.

Recent examples of transactions handled by our Capital Markets attorneys include:

Loan Origination

• Lender’s counsel in the origination of a fixed and floating rate loan pool exceeding $600 million and secured by more than 50 hospitality properties in 35 states.
   
• Lender’s counsel in the origination of multiple, fixed rate loan pools in excess of $500 million secured by office properties sold by a private equity firm.
   
• Lender’s counsel in the origination of several multi-state, multi-property loan pools for publicly traded and private retail, industrial, multi-family and self-storage REITs exceeding $400 million.
   
• Lender’s counsel in the origination of more than 250 separate fixed and floating rate loans with tenancy-in-common structures, representing more than $5 billion in debt.
   
• Lender’s counsel in the origination of senior and mezzanine loans exceeding $100 million for the acquisition of individual trophy properties in Los Angles, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and other locations.

Servicing Matters

• Servicer’s counsel on CMBS assumption transactions with loan balances in excess of $1 billion secured by various office, multi-family, and hospitality properties.
   
• Servicer’s counsel on a borrower restructuring consent request for loans with balances in excess $85 million, facilitating a private REIT structure for the borrower’s parent company.
   
• Servicer’s counsel on the assumption of a $60 million CMBS loan secured by a major retail property in Guam, working with local Guam and Hawaii counsel to address lender’s local law concerns.
   
• Servicer’s counsel on a proposed merger of a national private equity firm with a national commingled pension fund, with respect to multiple loans in excess of $80 million.
   
• Servicer’s counsel on a CMBS loan defeasance transaction involving the simultaneous defeasance of eight loans on 12 entertainment properties (in excess of $100 million), including both standard and “New York-style” defeasance transactions.