Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised J.P. Morgan and SACE, the Italian insurance and financial group directly controlled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, on the €100m financing of the designer outlet Florentia Village, which is one of the largest real estate financings and will be the first designer outlet in Türkiye. The outlet is located near Istanbul Airport and will open in 2026.
The project is being developed by Kalyon, one of the largest project developers in Türkiye, in partnership with Italy’s RDM-Fingen Group and Gaw Capital. Once built, it will include approximately 175,000 m² of retail space, a five-star hotel, and a family entertainment centre.
The WFW Frankfurt Project & Structured Finance team that acted as international counsel to J.P. Morgan and SACE was led by Partner Riko Vanezis, supported by Managing Associate Kathy Buenaventura, Associate Anindhya Shrivastava, Transaction Lawyer Alkistis Vallianatou, and Trainee Carita Hui.
Milan Finance Partner Mario D’Ovidio, supported by Associate Giulia Chiarvesio, advised on Italian law and ECA related matters of the project. London Finance Partner Patrick Smith, together with Associate Louis Brunet, advised Law Debenture Trust Corporation P.L.C. as the security agent for J.P. Morgan and SACE.
Riko commented: “We are pleased to have advised on this highly complex international transaction, which involved no fewer than seven jurisdictions, including Türkiye, England & Wales, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Italy, the Netherlands and Singapore. This mandate once again underscores WFW’s unique expertise in successfully advising on multinational project and export finance transactions”.
