20 August 2007

Corporate and commercial law firm Lopian Wagner has been cementing its reputation with the North West's most astute property consortia with a spate of deals in Eastern Europe. Michael Lopian, founding partner, has spent some of the past six months in Romania and Germany, having advised local consortia on investment deals worth in excess of £10 million in those territories.

He explains: "With the UK property market offering unappealing yields, our clients are increasingly looking to Eastern Europe for better returns, including the particularly high risk markets of Russia and Romania. However, the process can be fraught with difficulties, since you're dealing not only with entirely different legal systems, but with a different mentality. For example, vendors can be talking to three or four people, all of whom think they've got exclusivity - you just never know where you stand.

"We often find that deals are approached in what the UK would consider to be a very antiquated manner, with vendors not represented by agents but attending meetings themselves. Leases and rent reviews are also handled in a totally different way and it's important to consider the tax considerations of an investment, with the help of specialist tax advisers.

"With so many cowboys poised to take advantage of unsuspecting investors, it's absolutely imperative to take experienced professionals over there to sit down with the people involved.

"We've successfully steered a number of local investors through some rather unconventional and difficult legal processes, and are now looking to double this side of our property department in the next twelve months."