Shoosmiths has expanded its real estate offering with the strategic appointment of partner, Mehar Patel, who re-joins the Solent office after a number of years in-house at one of the south’s leading fintech companies.
Mehar Patel was previously head of legal at Lendy Finance, a peer-to-peer secured property fintech lender. Prior to that, he was also instrumental in growing the secured property lending practice at Clarke Wilmott from two to 22 legal advisers. He now returns to Shoosmiths’ real estate team, having originally qualified with the firm and is looking forward to bringing his skills to Shoosmiths’ UK real estate offering, which spans development, portfolio management, investment, finance and corporate support.
Mehar’s experience included dealing with large-scale property financing across multiple property portfolios, acting for banks, non-bank lenders, mezzanine lenders, funds, and borrowers. Working across a broad spectrum of property types, Mehar has acted for developers, local authorities, landlords and tenants, and investment acquisitions and disposals of real estate assets for funds. He is adept at providing corporate support in company and business acquisitions, equity injections / withdrawals and sales.
Joanne McGuinness, real estate partner, said the appointment would help strengthen the breadth and depth of the real estate team both nationally and locally: “Mehar Patel has exceptional knowledge and experience within real estate. He will be an immense asset to our real estate finance and banking practices. Mehar is well-known and respected in the markets in which he operates and particularly in the finance sector. We’re delighted Mehar has chosen to return to Shoosmiths, as we already know his passion for delivering an outstanding experience to our clients.”
Mehar Patel said: “I’m excited about the prospect of returning to Shoosmiths, and I believe in our ambitious vision for growth. It is a homecoming by returning here, as it’s the firm is where I trained and have had happy times at. I’m looking forward to what the future brings for our top tier real estate team.”
Shoosmiths' national real estate team was named Legal Team of the Year at the Estates Gazette Awards 2018. Shoosmiths' real estate team services a wide variety of clients on real estate, construction, planning, property litigation and environmental issues. Clients range from commercial and residential developers to major corporate occupiers, investors, funders and public sector bodies.