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Tim is a partner in the corporate team, specialising in hotels transactions, acting for major international hotel operator companies, private and institutional hotel owners/franchisees, property companies, multinational organisations, developers, institutional investors, and governmental bodies. As well as his time in private practice Tim has also spent a significant amount of his legal career working as in-house counsel for hotel operator brands.

Professional experience:

• Assisted with all legal aspects of each stage of the acquisition of the Belmond Group by LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE (a strategic review process which started in August 2018 and completed in early summer 2019).

• Acted on various sales/lease and management-back transactions for Hyatt International

• Drafted and negotiated hotel management agreements (“HMAs”), franchise, ‘manchise’, trademark licensing, system services, non-disturbance, technical services and other ancillary agreements, for many hotel operations across the world, including the following:
  • advised an investment bank owner on the HMA suite of documents for the operation of a hotel in Mauritius by a leading global hotel operator;
  • advised a hotel owner on the negotiation of HMAs with a white-label operator in respect of a portfolio of London hotels subject to franchise agreement branding;
  • advised an operator entity on the negotiation of a HMA suite of documents in respect of its second operating luxury hotel in the UK;
  • acted for the franchisee in respect of the negotiation of a development loan relating to a hotel operation in Cambridge, UK, and advised on the impact of an existing franchise agreement with a leading global franchisor;
  • advised a US-based client on the restructuring of its franchisee entity to accommodate a refinancing of a hotel operation in Florida under the flag of a major global hotel franchisor;
  • acted for the hotel brand on the termination of a flagship hotel in London’s East End;
  • acted for the hotel brand entity on a voluntary liquidation of a tenant entity of a London operational hotel;
  • acted for the hotel tenant on the voluntary surrender of its lease of a London, Kensington operation;

Professional history:

• Trained at SJ Berwin, 2008 - 2010
• Associate at SJ Berwin, including a 9 month secondment to Hilton Hotels, 2010 - 2012
• Associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, 2012 – 2015
• Corporate counsel, Hyatt International, 2015 – 2018
• Senior legal counsel, Belmond, 2018 – 2019
• Senior Associate Katten Muchin Rosenman, 2019 – 2022
• Partner, Maples Teesdale, 2022

Awards and recognition:

• Recognised as "one to watch" in the Best Lawyers in Leisure and Hospitality law
• Awarded the accolades of ‘Rising Star’ and Leading Lawyer in the Hospitality sector by the Legal 500 annual legal UK directory for 2021 and 2022.

Articles and insights: