About

David Camhi was appointed as Playa Hotels & Resorts first ever general counsel in 2011, just five years after the company was established. Playa specialises in the acquisition and development of all-inclusive beachfront resorts in Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean. Camhi has played a big role in the resort chain’s expansion. His most recent achievement came in late 2016 when he led Playa through its $1.75bn merger with Pace Holdings, a special purpose acquisition company backed by private investment firm TPG. The deal came just as Playa was preparing its IPO, with the newly merged company eventually listing on NASDAQ. As a result, Camhi helped transform the Dutch-listed private company into a publicly-traded global organisation with robust governance structures. Camhi is a part of Playa’s six-person executive team and has, throughout his time with the company, made a big contribution. Earlier successes include setting up Playa’s legal function and establishing new relationship with external counsel – something which allowed him to reduce the company’s legal expenditure by $2.5m during his first year as GC – leading a major multi-billion dollar transaction that involved debt refinancing, negotiating a joint venture, the exit of an existing investor, introduction of a new investor and the sale and acquisition of several hotels. Born and raised in Colombia, Cahmi is admitted to practice law in his home country, Mexico and New York.