ORLANDO – March 7, 2025 – Attorneys at global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP represented SouthState Bank, N.A. in connection with a sale and leaseback of 165 of its retail bank properties across the Southeast.
SouthState sold the bank branches to affiliates of Blue Owl Real Estate Capital for $467 million in cash and agreed to rent them back under triple net leases with initial terms of 15 years.
The portfolio includes more than 1.18 million square feet of space spanning Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. SouthState does not plan to close any branches or exit any markets as part of the sale-leaseback, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by the company.
Greenberg Traurig handled all legal aspects of the transaction on behalf of SouthState, including the negotiation, execution, and closing of the portfolio purchase and sale agreement, as well as the triple net leaseback agreement with Blue Owl.
“Greenberg Traurig was able to assemble a multidisciplinary team of more than a dozen attorneys from multiple offices nationwide to assist SouthState in closing this complex transaction on schedule,” said Greenberg Traurig Real Estate Practice Shareholders Jonathan M. Perry and Adam R. Seligman, who represented SouthState in the deal. “It’s a testament to the firm’s unique collaborative culture, deep resources, and dedication to providing clients with sophisticated, creative, and solutions-oriented legal advice.”
In addition to Perry and Seligman, the Greenberg Traurig deal team included Co-President and Real Estate Practice Co-Chair Michael J. Baum, Shareholders Giuliano Apadula and Richard J. Melnick, Of Counsel David C. Freinberg, and Associates Bethany Bigler, Madeline Boyles, Laura Jacobi, Laura Maxwell, Jonathan R. Pickett, Ali Sachoo, Brandon M. Salky, and Jeremy Rupert Wells.
SouthState Corporation (NYSE: SSB) is a financial services company headquartered in Winter Haven. SouthState Bank, N.A., the company's nationally chartered bank subsidiary, provides consumer, commercial, mortgage, and wealth management solutions to more than 1.5 million customers throughout Florida, Texas, the Carolinas, Georgia, Colorado, Alabama, and Virginia. Additional information is available at SouthStateBank.com.
About Greenberg Traurig's Global Real Estate Practice: The Greenberg Traurig Real Estate Practice is a cornerstone of the firm and a recognized leader in the industry. The firm’s real estate attorneys deliver diversified and comprehensive counsel for property acquisition and investment, development, management and leasing, financing, restructuring, and disposition of all asset classes of real estate. The team draws upon the knowledge and experience of more than 700 real estate lawyers from around the world, serving clients from key markets in the United States, Europe & the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. The group’s clientele includes a broad range of property developers, lenders, investment managers, private equity funds, REITs, and private owners. The real estate practice advises clients on a variety of matters across a broad spectrum of commercial, recreational, and residential real estate, including structured equity and debt and hybrids.
About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2750 attorneys in 49 locations in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The firm is a 2024 BTI “Leading Edge Law Firm” for delivering on client expectations for the future and is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law Global 100 and NLJ 500. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab. The firm is recognized for powering its U.S. offices with 100% renewable energy as certified by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e® Energy program and is a member of the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono. Web: www.gtlaw.com.