Counsel to private equity buyers
Not legal advice. This section describes law firms from published rankings and SEC filings. It does not recommend a lawyer for your matter, and reading it does not create a lawyer–client relationship with anyone. For a legal question, talk to a lawyer licensed where the property is.
Firms that SEC filings show acting for Blackstone, Brookfield, Ares and Blue Owl on REIT take-privates.
Last updated: 2026-10-20
We do not score law firms. We cannot see the work, and the guides already rank them through client interviews. We show the guides’ bands and tiers as they publish them, and list firms alphabetically.
Who sat on which side: deals in SEC filings
| Deal (announced) | Counsel: buyer side | Counsel: target, seller or other side | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackstone / Retail Opportunity Investments (Nov 2024) | Simpson Thacher | Clifford Chance | 8-K |
| Makarora and Ares / Plymouth Industrial, ~$2.1B (Oct 2025) | Greenberg Traurig and Simpson Thacher (Makarora); Latham and Kirkland (Ares) | Morrison & Foerster, Alston & Bird | 8-K |
| Investor group incl. Blackstone funds / Alexander & Baldwin, ~$2.3B (Dec 2025) | Simpson Thacher, Carlsmith Ball (Blackstone) | Skadden, Cades Schutte | 8-K |
| Brookfield / Peakstone, ~$1.2B (Feb 2026) | Gibson Dunn | Latham & Watkins | 8-K |
| Affinius-led group / Veris Residential, ~$3.4B (Feb 2026) | Skadden, Greenberg Traurig, Simpson Thacher (members of the buyer group) | Weil, Seyfarth Shaw | 8-K |
| Ares / Whitestone REIT, ~$1.7B (Apr 2026) | Kirkland & Ellis | Bass Berry & Sims | 8-K |
| Blue Owl / Sila Realty Trust, ~$2.4B (Apr 2026) | Kirkland & Ellis | Hogan Lovells | 8-K |
| Global Net Lease / Modiv Industrial, ~$535M (May 2026) | Paul, Weiss and Greenberg Traurig | Morrison & Foerster, Venable | 8-K |
| AvalonBay and Equity Residential merger of equals (May 2026; closed Aug 2026) | Goodwin (AvalonBay) | Wachtell Lipton (Equity Residential) | 8-K |
| Brookfield and CPP Investments / LXP Industrial, ~$5.2B (Jul 2026) | Gibson Dunn, Thompson Hine; DLA Piper (CPP, some matters) | Hogan Lovells Cadwalader | 8-K |
From the ‘Advisors’ paragraph of each press release filed with the SEC. These are examples we read, not a count of every deal.
Profiled in this segment
Gibson Dunn
Private law partnership.
Brookfield’s counsel on two 2026 REIT take-privates: Peakstone (~$1.2B) and LXP Industrial (~$5.2B).
Profile and sources →Kirkland & Ellis
Private law partnership.
Counsel to Blue Owl and Ares on 2025–26 REIT take-privates worth $1.7B to $2.4B each.
Profile and sources →Simpson Thacher
Private law partnership.
Blackstone’s counsel in two REIT take-privates we read: Retail Opportunity Investments and Alexander & Baldwin (~$2.3B).
Profile and sources →Who each is actually for
Based on what the cited sources say, not on reviews. If we had no source, the cell is left out.
| Firm | Fit signals from the sources |
|---|---|
| Gibson Dunn | Private equity buyers of listed REITs. Owners and lenders with large California assets. |
| Kirkland & Ellis | Private equity and credit funds buying or restructuring real estate. |
| Simpson Thacher | Large real estate funds buying portfolios or whole REITs. Sponsors running big CMBS financings. |
Last verified 2026-10-20. Figures were re-read from the linked sources that day.
View changelog
- Section published: hub, three sub-hubs, nine profiles and three comparisons, from Chambers USA 2026, The Legal 500 and SEC filings read this day.
Sources
- Chambers USA 2026, Gibson Dunn, Real Estate department profile · accessed 2026-10-20
- The Legal 500 United States, Real estate: large cap ($500m+) firm rankings · accessed 2026-10-20
- Peakstone Realty Trust 8-K, Ex. 99.1 (Feb 2, 2026): Brookfield acquisition · accessed 2026-10-20
- LXP Industrial Trust 8-K, Ex. 99.1 (Jul 20, 2026): Brookfield and CPP Investments acquisition · accessed 2026-10-20
- Chambers USA 2026, Real Estate: USA Nationwide ranking table · accessed 2026-10-20
- Chambers USA 2026, REITs: USA Nationwide ranking table · accessed 2026-10-20
- Chambers USA 2026, Kirkland & Ellis, Real Estate department profile · accessed 2026-10-20
- Sila Realty Trust 8-K, Ex. 99.1 (Apr 20, 2026): Blue Owl acquisition · accessed 2026-10-20
- Whitestone REIT 8-K, Ex. 99.1 (Apr 9, 2026): Ares acquisition · accessed 2026-10-20
- Plymouth Industrial REIT 8-K, Ex. 99.1 (Oct 24, 2025): Makarora acquisition · accessed 2026-10-20
- Chambers USA 2026, Simpson Thacher, Real Estate department profile · accessed 2026-10-20
- Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. 8-K, Ex. 99.1 (Nov 6, 2024): Blackstone acquisition · accessed 2026-10-20
- Alexander & Baldwin 8-K, Ex. 99.7 (Dec 9, 2025): take-private · accessed 2026-10-20
- Veris Residential 8-K, Ex. 99.1 (Feb 23, 2026): Affinius-led acquisition · accessed 2026-10-20