Our lawyers act for a wide range of hospitality clients – including leading hotel operators, developers, investors and financiers around the world. As a client, you benefit from a multidisciplinary team with expertise in structuring hotel transactions and a detailed understanding of the commercial issues within the market.
To navigate the myriad of laws and regulations in different jurisdictions governing the hospitality industry, you need a legal team with local insights, a global perspective, and a track record of advising clients on all aspects of the law relating to the hospitality industry.
Across our international offices we work with the property teams within hotel groups advising on a range of issues. Our key driver to the management of hotel portfolios is flexibility and communication.
Areas of law on which we advise the hospitality sector include:
- Hotel funds
- Hotel leases – including sale and leaseback, and operating company / property company structures
- Management contracts
- Hotel franchise agreements
- Structuring transactions to achieve maximum tax efficiency
- Mergers and acquisitions from the perspective of both trade and financial investor buyers and sellers
- Developments, including planning and local issues relating to hotel development
- Employment and pension law issues, both contentious and non-contentious
- Supply and distribution arrangements
- Development, exploitation and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
Market highlights
- Leopard Holding Guernsey Limited subsidiary: advising in relation to the acquisition of a hotel portfolio. The portfolio comprises of 20 Holiday Inns across Germany and was acquired from Goldman Sachs and KKR for €250 million.
- Four Seasons: advising over the past 17 years on all projects in Hong Kong, Macau and China in terms of hotel management, joint ventures, equity investments and dispositions.
- SK group of Korea: advisimg on bid for the international auction of Aman Resorts worldwide.
- BT Funds Management: advising on the acquisition of most assets in the portfolio, including Intercontinental Hotel, Sydney, the Sheraton Towers, Brisbane, Parkroyal Canberra and Adelaide Hilton.
- Ascendas: advising on the commercial real estate, corporate, funds, regulatory and foreign investment regulatory aspects of its acquisition (with Accor) of a stake in the Mirvac Wholesale Hotel Fund - one of the largest ever hotel management acquisitions in Australia.
