We acted as counsel to IFC in connection with the financing of the acquisition by Orient Express Hotels of a 93.5% stake in St. Petersburg's historical Grand Hotel Europe. The deal marked the largest single property acquisition in Russia at that time and was the first ever acquisition financing by IFC in Russia.

We assisted a group of foreign investors with acquiring the largest wine estate and hotel facility in Tuscany, which included corporate due diligence in several jurisdictions and the setting up of the right tax structure for an Italian Special Vehicle company. We continue to assist with further purchases of land for the expansion of the winery.

Represented SOCAM Development Limited in the sale of the Four Seasons Hotel and Four Seasons Place in Shanghai to B.M. Holding Group for ¥1.323 billion.

We advised Guocoland on its negotiation of management agreements with Accor Hotels for a 222 room Sofitel in the Tanjong Pagar Centre in Singapore and a 312 room Sofitel hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

We advised on the acquisition of a Malaysian company with ownership of a well-known major hotel in Malaysia by a BVI registered investment holding company for RM120 million.

We advised Pro-Invest on capital raising, shareholders agreements, fund documents, various property investments and its interaction with InterContinental Hotels Group in relation to Pro-invest’s AU$300 million Holiday Inn Express fund in Australia.

We advised Wyndham on certain matters concerning the establishment of Indonesian local companies, a management agreement (and related agreements) and timeshare arrangements for the possible acquisition of Sakala, Bali Indonesia.

We advised American Indochina Resorts Ltd on the management agreement, license agreement, and villas management and maintenance agreement for The Nam Hai, Hoi An Hotel in Vietnam.

We advised Marriott International on its negotiations with Far East Consortium in relation to its management and related agreements for the new-build 204 room Ritz Carlton in Perth. This was the first Ritz Carlton hotel announced in Australia after a 15 year absence for the brand.

We represented Shun Ho Property Investments Limited, a public limited company incorporated in Hong Kong (Stock Code: 219), in the acquisition of Newton Inn for HK$1 billion.

The Old War Office at 57 Whitehall, London is a prestigious and historic building. We were proud to act for State Bank of India in its client Hinduja Group's purchase of the site, which is to be converted into a luxury hotel.

The Hyatt brand is one of the world's largest hotel franchises. With plans to establish the first 5 star hotel in Baku, Azerbaijan, Hyatt Regency requested the assistance of Withers to advise on the project. As the first of its kind in the area, Withers is proud to have helped set a precedent for future development in Baku.

In a transaction involving a private club/hotel, our lawyers advised on documenting a long term sale leaseback transaction for the development of a historic adaptive reuse project, including the purchase and sale agreement, lease, development agreement, construction contract and related documents.

On behalf of owner, negotiated a 99 year unsubordinated ground lease to a prime developer for Marriott Hotels. In the process, increased the net present value of the parcel by 33% by aggressive use of comparable market data.

The APAC hotels team has assisted Pro-invest Group to sign franchise agreements with Intercontinental Hotels Group for two 200 plus room hotels in Auckland, New Zealand – a Holiday Inn Express and a flagship EVEN hotel land, the first EVEN outside the five currently in North America. EVEN is IHG's new on-trend wellness lifestyle brand. Pro-Invest continues to roll out hotels as it deploys capital from its multi-million dollar hotel funds, on which we also advise.

Acting for a luxury hotel chain on the financing for the acquisition and re-development of their Miami Beach site.

Represented a luxury hotel chain in its expansion in California, assisting in the negotiations regarding the lease of prime space on the Pacific Coast Highway for its new beach club and the related acquisition of an existing liquor license from the controlling landlord entity.

Assisted a luxury hotel chain in acquiring  a 50,000 square foot development property in downtown Los Angeles (which transaction included a bridge loan facility from a co-investor), as well as assisting the client with flipping the parcel to a third party purchaser (among multiple bidders) for a significant profit.

Assisted a luxury hotel chain with the completion of two new leases as part of its prestigious development in the trendy DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn.

We provided thorough advice to an Argentinean hotel chain on tax optimizing its global structure for US investment and expansion. This included extensive pre-IPO planning, interim financing structuring, a review of the fund documents and the creation of convertible notes for a special class of investors.

We are advising Pro-invest Hotels Group on its Cayman fund, developing hotels in Australia and New Zealand under InterContinental Hotel’s Group’s Holiday Inn Express brand.

Advising a hotel developer, Dubai, UAE in respect of the appointment of Starwood as an operator of its upscale hotel under the Aloft brand, including the negotiation of the hotel management agreement and a suite of concomitant agreements.

Advising a major real estate developer in Dubai, in relation to the appointment of Millennium & Copthorne an operator of three hotel projects in Dubai. This included the negotiation of the hotel management agreement, technical services agreement, corporate structuring of the client’s group for the purpose of the project, structuring and drafting of the rental pool agreement.

Advising Royal Group on its proposed acquisition of the leasehold interest and improvements on Vagaru Island, Shaviyani Atoll, Republic of the Maldives.