Ana O’Brien, Global Co-Chair of the REIT Industry Group, Deputy Office Managing Partner for the firm's Los Angeles offices, and former Chair of the Los Angeles Tax Department, advises clients on federal taxation of REITs, corporations, and partnerships in a variety of US and international contexts.

Ms. O’Brien advises clients on tax issues associated with:

  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Securities offerings
  • Financing transactions
  • Joint ventures

Ms. O’Brien regularly speaks on tax issues related to real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other tax matters.

In the capital markets area, Ms. O’Brien has represented numerous issuers and investment banks in connection with IPOs and other transactions, including those for:

  • American Assets Trust, Inc. 
  • Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. 
  • Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. 
  • Digital Realty Trust, Inc. 
  • Essex Property Trust, Inc. 
  • Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. 
  • Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. 
  • Kilroy Realty Corporation
  • Kimco Realty Corporation 
  • Realty Income Corporation
  • Redwood Trust, Inc. 
  • Safehold, Inc. 
  • Simon Property Group
  • Spirit Realty Corporation 

In the mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures area, Ms. O'Brien has in recent years represented:

  • Realty Income in its pending merger with Spirit Realty Capital, a REIT that invests in single tenant and commercial real estate facilities
  • Kimco Realty in its US$2 billion acquisition of RPT Realty
  • Hersha Hospitality Trust in its US$1.4 billion acquisition by KSL Capital Partners
  • Realty Income Corporation in its US$950 million investment in The Bellagio Las Vegas
  • Simon Property Group in its strategic partnership with Jamestown, a global real estate investment and management firm
  • INDUS Realty Trust in its US$868 million acquisition by Centerbridge and GIC
  • Digital Realty Trust in its US$1.7 billion acquisition of a 55% interest in Teraco Data Environments, a South African colocation and data center services provider, and related joint venture arrangements
  • Digital Realty Trust in its US$1.8 billion acquisition of Ascenty Data Centers e Telecomunicações, a premier Brazilian data center provider
  • Digital Realty Trust in its US$1.2 billion joint venture with Brookfield Infrastructure to invest in Ascenty Data Centers e Telecomunicações
  • Invitation Homes in its agreement to form a US$375 million venture and subsequent US$300 million venture with Rockpoint Group
  • Realty Income Corporation in its US$50 billion merger with VEREIT
  • Cole Office & Industrial REIT II in its US$4.9 billion merger with Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT
  • Digital Realty Trust in its US$8.4 billion acquisition of Interxion, creating a leading global provider of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions
  • Simon Property Group in its US$3.4 billion acquisition of Taubman Centers, and acquisition of an 80% stake in Taubman Realty Group
  • Digital Realty Trust in its US$1.4 billion sale and joint venture of hyper-scale data centers with Maple Tree Investments and Mapletree Industrial Trust
  • Eastdil Secured in its joint venture and recapitalization with Temasek and certain institutional clients of Guggenheim Investments
  • BRE Properties in its US$15.4 billion merger of equals with Essex Property Trust
  • Digital Realty Trust in its US$7.6 billion acquisition of DuPont Fabros Technology
  • Spirit Realty Capital in its US$7.4 billion merger with Cole Credit Property Trust II
  • Spirit Realty Capital in its US$3 billion spin-off and creation of a new public company, MTA REIT
  • Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II (special committee) in its US$4 billion sale to NorthStar Realty Finance Corp.
  • Hudson Pacific Properties in its sale of a 49% interest its Hollywood media portfolio to Blackstone Property Partners
  • Hudson Pacific in its acquisition of a US$3.7 billion portfolio from The Blackstone Group
  • Hudson Pacific Properties in its joint ventures with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for multiple Class A properties
  • Hudson Pacific Properties in connection with its up to US$475 million joint venture with Macerich to redevelop the Westside Pavilion in Los Angeles
  • Realty Income Corporation in its US$2.95 billion acquisition of American Realty Capital Trust
  • MPG Office Trust in its US$2.3 billion merger with an affiliate of Brookfield
  • Digital Realty Trust in its US$1.89 billion acquisition of Telx
  • Digital Realty Trust in its US$874 million acquisition of eight high-quality, carrier-neutral data centers in Europe from Equinix
  • Special Committee of Apollo Residential Mortgage in its US$641 million merger with Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance
  • Digital Realty Trust in its US$369 million joint venture with Prudential Real Estate Investors and its US$187.6 million joint venture with Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT
  • CoreCivic (f/k/a Corrections Corporation of America) in its US$157.5 million acquisition of Avalon Correctional Services

Bar Qualification

  • California

Education

  • JD, Columbia University School of Law, 1996
  • BA, Columbia College, 1993

Practices

Industries