The group will provide targeted advice to real estate companies, investors and other capital sources in entity-level transactions resulting from the current unprecedented real property and finance sector dislocations, the release states. A broad range of options is on the menu, including M&A, tender offers, spin-offs, joint ventures or bankruptcy including "prepackaged" bankruptcies, M&F says.

In a release, Andrew Weiner, a New York partner in the real estate practice, notes that while his firm has "longstanding expertise and reputation" in the areas affecting real estate companies in the current environment, "creating a cross-disciplinary group enhances our ability to respond quickly and comprehensively to client needs. Speed and coordination of industry-savvy expertise in responding to client needs will be critical in this environment, particularly since we anticipate a dramatic increase in the number and size of these transactions."

The new group includes attorneys in M&F's domestic and international offices. Among the categories of transactions involving real estate companies that the group expects to execute in the months include: mergers and acquisitions involving significant real estate-related assets, securities or companies; tender offers; going-private transactions; spin-offs or slit-offs; REIT conversions and de-conversions; restructuring/workout transactions representing or involving real estate companies or commingled funds; and private equity investments in real estate companies.