Clifford Chance, Hogan Lovells, Proskauer Rose, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom are advising on an initial public offering for Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT), the owner and operator of the Empire State Building, which raised nearly $930 million this week, and according to an SEC filing generated some $33 million in legal fees and expenses—in part due to a nasty legal fight over whether the 102-story tower would go public.
The building’s largest shareholder, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and the Estate of Leona M. Helmsley, was advised on the offering by a team of Skadden lawyers led by real estate partners Benjamin Needell and Vered Rabia, trusts and estates partner Jonathan Koslow, corporate finance partner David Goldschmidt, tax partner Dean Shulman, and associate Yasmeena Chaudry.
