About

As leader of the Minor International legal function for over a decade, originally joining in 2007, Stephen Chojnacki’s corporate and M&A specialist skills built during a private practice career with Linklaters have proved highly beneficial to the company. In 2018, Chojnacki was integral to Minor’s acquisition of a 94% shareholding stake in NH Hotel Group, while in 2016 he worked on the acquisition of Portuguese-based hotel chain Tivoli Hotels & Resorts. ‘These acquisitions were interesting, difficult and transformative of our company. In each case, I was forced to step further and further outside of a purely legal role, to help develop and implement practical and pragmatic solutions to securing and completing the transaction’, Chojnacki explains. His construction of a highly effective legal team was also a major factor in the success of these transactions. When discussing his work on this, Chojnacki says, ‘I have grown the legal team from a small team of three lawyers to a Bangkok-based team of 12 lawyers, with a further network of lawyers in our major overseas business hubs including in Australia, Spain, Portugal and South Africa. As Minor is a conglomerate, I have structured the legal team to service specific business units, so that the legal team can develop competency in specific business sectors which increases our understanding of the relevant business dynamics and, ultimately, our effectiveness in supporting our various businesses’.