| Biography:
Michael Feldman is a partner in the Corporate Department of Proskauer Rose LLP and a member of the Firm's Executive Committee. Michael is also co-head of the Firm's Lodging and Gaming Practice Group. In that role, he has represented developers, operators, owners and banks in connection with development projects, chain and property acquisitions, sales, joint ventures, management agreements, financings, restructurings, and workouts. Michael has been ranked in Chambers USA 2007 and 2008 as one of the leaders in the Leisure and Hospitality industries.
Michael counsels clients on mergers, acquisitions and financing transactions and other matters of domestic and international corporate law. He represents a number of large, well-known United States and non-U.S. corporate clients engaged in a broad spectrum of businesses, including the lodging and gaming, advertising, service, manufacturing and mining industries. Michael frequently works on the United States and foreign aspects of international mergers, acquisitions and development projects, and coordinates United States and foreign legal and business issues for foreign clients.
Recent lodging and gaming deals include representing: Baha Mar Development Company in connection with a joint venture with Harrah’s to develop a project located in Cable Beach, The Bahamas, which includes a W Hotel, Westin Hotel and St. Regis Hotel, operated by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc., and a Caesar's Palace Casino and Caesar's Palace Hotel, together with a retail village, golf course and other facilities; RAL Companies in connection with the development of a mixed-use facility in Telluride, Colorado, including a condominium hotel and a residential condominium, and management and related agreements; DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners in connection with a joint venture to acquire controlling interests in existing mixed-use resort projects in Aruba and Curacao; DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners and J.D. Carlisle Development Corp. in connection with the development of a $260 million mixed-used project in New York, including a hotel, residential, retail, bar and restaurant components; Lexin Capital in connection with the development and management of a 425 room hotel located in Celebration-Orlando, Florida; Moinian Group in connection with the development and operation of a mixed-use hotel and condominium located in downtown New York City; Takara Development and its U.S. subsidiary, Hiro Realty, in connection with the development of a multiuse facility, including a four-star hotel, in Tokyo; and Metro Development in connection with a mixed-use development project, including a hotel, residential and retail components, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We have also represented SAirRelations in connection with the sale of the Swissôtel Hotel Group to Raffles Holdings; Raffles International Hotels-Resorts in connection with various hotel matters; the Plumbers and Pipefitters National Pension Fund in connection with the development, management and operation of The Diplomat Resort, Country Club and Spa; Boykin Management Company in connection with the sale to Boykin Lodging Company of membership interests in 16 companies holding 25 hotel properties in 14 states in consideration of REIT securities and OP units; Wachovia in connection with senior debt financing for a new hotel development project; Takara Development Co. in connection with the development and management of a hotel in Tokyo; DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners in connection with the acquisition and subsequent sale and management of the Ritz-Carlton San Juan Hotel in Puerto Rico; Six Continents in connection with management agreements; Club Med in connection with the acquisition and financing of the Crested Butte, Colorado Ski Facility and other properties and the disposition of the Copper Mountain, Colorado Ski Facility; Accor in its acquisition of Red Roof Inns; The Olnick Organization in connection with hotel management agreements; Everest Holdings in connection with franchise and management agreements; PineEquity in connection with license and franchise agreements relating to executive long-term-stay housing in the UK and Paris; and the Hotel Pennsylvania in connection with a corporate reorganization.
He represented the owners of Harrison Conference Services in connection with the sale of that company to Doubletree Hotels & Resorts. Michael represented The Pivotal Group in connection with management agreements and related financing matters with Starwood Hotel & Resorts for the Century Plaza Hotel & Tower. As counsel to Meridien Hotels, Michael has represented Meridien in connection with management agreements for hotels located in North America. the acquisition and financing of hotel joint ventures, hotel ground leases, the joint venture and sale of hotels, and the turnover of certain of its hotels to new managers. He also represented a joint venture in connection with management and franchise agreements for the development of a Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown New York. Michael has also represented Swissôtel Management Corp. in connection with a management/franchise agreement in Morocco. He has also counseled Dan Hotels, an Israeli hotel chain, and Hotel Leelaventure, an Indian hotel chain, and also represented InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and Stanford Hotels. In addition, Michael represented The Port Authority of NY & NJ in connection with the sale of the New York Vista Hotel to Marriot Corporation.
Other matters include: the sale of ILC Industries, a defense industry company, to Berman Capital; the acquisition and subsequent disposition of Riddell, Inc. by an affiliate of a private equity firm; the restructuring of ILC Industries, Inc., a leading defense industry manufacturer, and the subsequent sale of ILC Industries, Inc. in a leveraged buyout transaction; advising HSBC Canada with respect to structured public company equity investments; private equity investments, including an investment for The Pivotal Group in a development stage Internet company; joint ventures; international cross-licenses of technology; the sale of Naporano Iron & Metal Co., one of the nation's largest scrap metal companies, to Metal Management, Inc.; the sale of Gimelstob Realty, the largest residential real estate brokerage firm in the Southeast, to NRT Incorporated; and the sale of TMG Merchandising Group, one of the nation's leading marketing companies.
Michael is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School and has been a guest speaker there on International Law. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the New York University Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Administration and a moderator and panelist at the Hospitality Industry Investment Conference. Michael is Co-Chair of The New York Hospitality Council, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation, co-founded by Proskauer as a forum for hospitality industry leaders to discuss the key issues facing the hotel, travel and tourism industry. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, Inc. Michael is also a member of the Boards of Directors of Northeast Insurance Company Limited, and FFH Insurance Company Limited.
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