Gelena Minkov (Née Yufa)

Gelena has more than eight years' experience in advising on the acquisition and disposal of real estate in asset or share deals. She primarily focuses on property acquisition law and real estate law, on commercial lease law, as well as on public building and planning law.

Gelena advises domestic and foreign institutional investors, investment funds and investment management companies on real estate investments, as well as in relation to ongoing asset management.

Gelena's experience includes advising: 

• Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) on the co-investment regarding the acquisition of the TaunusTurm in Frankfurt am Main 
• Cording Real Estate Group on the acquisition of a portfolio comprising 10 office properties, on the joint venture and structuring of the investment, as well as on the financing (approximately €140 million)  
• a US private equity company on the acquisition of various logistic assets across Germany and on asset management matters, mainly on lease agreements 
• Art-Invest Real Estate Funds GmbH on the acquisition, development and financing of the development project Kö-Bogen in Düsseldorf (in excess of €400 million) and on ongoing asset management and leasing activities 
• AO World Plc on leases for warehouses in Munich, Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne, as well as on the acquisition of several development sites for warehouses in Germany.

 

 

Background

Gelena graduated from the law school of the Goethe University Frankfurt and holds a master’s degree in Corporate and Financial Law from the University of Glasgow, UK. Prior to joining Herbert Smith Freehills in 2015, she worked for another leading international law firm in Germany. A German and Russian native speaker, she is fluent in English.