England - London • Industry focus

Clifford Chance LLP

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The cross-practice hospitality group at Clifford Chance LLP consists of real estate sector specialists and is particularly experienced in complex and high-end hotel transactions for a range of industry participants including luxury brand operators, investors, developers, lenders and owners. Advising both domestic clients and foreign investors with the help of its international footprint, the team has recently been involved in numerous significant refinancing and portfolio hotel transactions. The team is co-headed by Alis Pay, a commercial real estate transaction heavyweight, who has extensive expertise in assisting investors and financiers with high-value hotel assets, and counsel Sarah Thomas, who has a broad commercial real estate practice, specialising in real estate joint ventures, acquisitions, disposals and hotel operating agreements. Also of note is Andrew Carnegie, head of the real estate finance team in London and relationship manager for Wells Fargo. Ian Painter is well regarded in the London office development market and regularly works with developers, insurers, property companies and sovereign wealth funds on inbound UK investments. Global financial markets expert Barry O’Shea advises borrowers and lenders on the financing of real estate in European transactions.

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Key clients

  • Apollo
  • Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies
  • Corinthia Hotels
  • Electra America Hospitality Group LLC
  • Entain
  • Fortress
  • Helical
  • Sadler's Wells Foundation
  • Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts
  • The HongKong and Shanghai Hotels Limited
  • Wells Fargo

Work highlights

  • Advised BREDS and GIC, in their role as joint arrangers, on the refinancing of the Village Hotels portfolio for KSL Capital, as sponsor.
  • Advised two investment banks on the financing of the acquisition by Blackstone of Salesforce's Irish headquarters, the Spencer Place property complex in Dublin, comprising office buildings (let to Salesforce) and a hotel.
  • Advised Wells Fargo, as arranger, on the acquisition, refinancing and potential development financing for KSL Capital Partners following its acquisition of The Pig Hotels group.

Lawyers

Leading individuals

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Alis Pay, Sarah Thomas

Other key lawyers

Andrew Carnegie, Ian Painter, Barry O’Shea, Laura Smallcombe, Claire Fawcett, Angela Kearns