Mayer Brown strengthens real estate team

Mayer Brown has made significant strides in enhancing its London office by appointing two leading real estate lawyers, Mark Rajbenbach and Victoria Butcher, as partners. Both legal experts are set to deepen the firm’s capabilities in real estate investment transactions and private equity. Mark Rajbenbach has a wealth of experience in various aspects of real estate investment transactions, particularly in corporate and structured real estate matters, joint ventures, and portfolio transactions. He has served global clients across the US, Europe, and Asia and is recognised for his expertise in the real estate and hotels and leisure sectors. Victoria Butcher also brings a strong background in real estate investment transactions, focusing on structured acquisitions, disposals, and financing transactions. She frequently handles intricate cross-border mandates for clients across Europe, the US, and Asia, with a notable emphasis in the hotels and leisure and operational real estate sectors.

Dominic Griffiths, London Managing Partner, expressed enthusiasm over the new appointments, stating that “Mark and Victoria are highly regarded practitioners with strong profiles in complex, structured and cross border real estate matters. Their arrivals further strengthen our market leading capabilities in London and complement our global platform, particularly for private capital clients active across the UK, Europe and US.” Chris Harvey, partner and global co-lead for Real Estate, commented on their impressive track records, saying, “Mark and Victoria bring outstanding track records in areas including hospitality, leisure and operational real estate, and are adept at executing high profile, multi jurisdictional transactions for sponsors, investors and lenders.”

Andrew Hepner, partner and leader of London Real Estate, highlighted the potential synergies of their expertise with existing teams, adding, “Their focuses on US sponsor side work and their relationships with leading PERE clients provide natural synergies with our finance, private equity and funds teams.” Both Rajbenbach and Butcher transition to Mayer Brown from Taylor Wessing, further underscoring the firm’s commitment to expanding its global real estate and private capital capabilities, particularly in complex, cross-jurisdictional matters.