Deal team includes real estate partner David Gilbert, senior associate Jennifer Campbell
MinterEllisonRuddWatts has confirmed that it advised Heritage Hotels, a New Zealand accommodation provider, in signing a strategic multi-property management agreement with TFE Hotels, an Australian-based international hotel group.
David Gilbert, real estate partner, led the firm’s deal team assisting Heritage Hotels. Jennifer Campbell, real estate senior associate, worked alongside Gilbert. Allison Hancock, banking and financial services partner, along with other specialist lawyers from several of the firm’s teams, provided support to Gilbert and Campbell.
Under the agreement, Heritage Hotels will retain ownership of its New Zealand portfolio, while TFE Hotels will manage over 500 rooms across five of Heritage Hotels’ properties, including three properties in Auckland and Wellington, two frequent tourist destinations in the country.
“The agreement between TFE Hotels and Heritage Hotels sends a very clear signal to New Zealand’s accommodation sector which is experiencing a rapidly rising international tourism market as the world is reminded of everything our country has to offer visitors,” Gilbert said in a news release from MinterEllisonRuddWatts.
Gilbert is a commercial property lawyer who works on large property transactions and developments, according to his bio on the firm’s website. He focuses on acquisitions, developments, and leases and also handles matters involving due diligence and the disposal of land, retail premises, and office complexes.
He puts together complex acquisition agreements, project contracts, and commercial subdivisions for shopping centres and industrial parks, his bio adds. He assists residential and commercial property developers, both public and private and both locally and internationally.
“This agreement is a significant boost for the country’s tourism sector and will help shape its future,” Gilbert said in the national law firm’s news release.
“TFE Hotels is an owner, manager and developer and its impressive presence in multiple markets complements our vision for the future,” said Ho Chai Kun, Heritage Hotels’ deputy managing director, in the news release. “We are delighted to have a robust strategic agreement in place, and we appreciate the commercial legal expertise that David and Jennifer at MinterEllisonRuddWatts provided.”
Over the next few years, Heritage Hotels intends to upgrade five of its hotels in a rolling refurbishment plan, said Jeffrey Tang, Heritage Hotels’ managing director, in the news release.
