HSF Kramer has launched a real estate practice in Italy after hiring a six-lawyer team from K&L Gates.
The team is led by partners Francesco Sanna and Vanessa Boato, who have joined in Milan alongside an of counsel and three associates.
HSF Kramer's Milan office managing partner, Laura Orlando, said the team "gives us immediate scale and a highly credible real estate offering in Italy from day one", adding its hire was a "milestone as our Milan office advances towards a full-service model.”
Sanna is recognised as one of the leading real estate lawyers in the Italian market and will head the new practice. He represents multinational investment and real estate companies on mandates including asset sales and purchases and in matters relating to project developments.
Meanwhile Boato's practice focuses on administrative, town planning and public procurement transactions, as well as on litigation before Administrative Courts and arbitration boards.
The team is expected to work closely with Milan banking and finance chief Emanuela Da Rin, who joined HSF Kramer at the helm of a five-lawyer team from BonelliErede last year and regularly advises on real estate finance matters.
Matthew White, managing partner, real estate, UK EMEA, said the team reflected the firm's continued investment in its global real estate practice, cited as a key area of focus when the merger that created it went live last year.
He added: "With an increasing scale of cross-border platform transactions, and demand for data centre and infrastructure-related expertise growing across the EMEA region, their capabilities enhance our ability to support clients on complex, multi-jurisdictional mandates across the full real estate lifecycle.”
The team takes HSF Kramer to 12 partners in Milan, its sole location in Italy. The firm also recently promoted Emily Bottle to partner in the IP practice in the city and in 2023 hired partner Augusto Santoro with a four-strong team from Simmons & Simmons to establish an Italian private equity and ECM practice.
International law firms are increasingly looking to Italy – and particularly Milan – amid a boom in private equity and M&A deals and increased activity from foreign investors.
Since the start of last year firms including Ropes & Gray and Charles Russell Speechlys have debuted in Milan, the former targetting private equity work and the latter focused on ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
Others have significantly expanded their presence in the city – McDermott Will & Emery added a 12-lawyer private capital team from Milan-based Gitti and Partners, while legacy Hogan Lovells hired a prominent five-lawyer corporate & finance team from White & Case.
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