Willkie represented Apex Group Ltd., a global financial services provider, in its agreement to acquire Retransform, a real estate service provider, from The Annet Group, as well as in the related launch of a software development joint venture with Annet.

Announced on July 10, the addition of Retransform is expected to enable the Apex Group to act as a single-source provider of services across the entire life cycle of real estate investment funds. Retransform is a global real estate service provider offering Proptech, Technology Solutions and Business Managed Services to commercial, retail, residential and corporate real estate customers, ranging from individual owner/operators to some of the world’s largest real estate asset and fund managers.

In addition, Apex Group and Annet are establishing a joint venture to develop software in the areas of Data Analytics, Valuation and Digital Twins for real estate, leveraging Retransform’s existing software platforms.

Willkie previously advised Apex Group and its private equity sponsor Genstar Capital on numerous transactions, including Apex Group’s recent acquisitions of FundAdminChain, a distributed ledger-based network for collective investment funds, BRL Trust Investimentos, a leading independent fund administrator in Brazil, and fund services provider Tzur Capital Management Ltd. The firm also advised Genstar and Apex Group on a significant minority investment in Apex by TA Associates.

The Willkie team was led by partner Philip Coletto and included associate Nicola White.