About

Prior to joining Katara Hospitality in 2015, Kushagra Priyadarshi was a private practice lawyer specialising in M&A with India’s foremost firm Amarchand & Mangaldas and as an investment lawyer with the Ministry of Finance of the Government of India. He now enjoys a role that affords him the opportunity to have a hand in some of the most interesting projects in the real estate and hospitality sector. Among others, he has advised on the acquisition of the Plaza Hotel in New York and the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. He is currently involved in the development and project financing of Katara Twin Towers in Doha, touted to be a landmark in the region, and the establishment of ‘a first of its kind real-estate and hospitality fund in Africa’ in partnership with Accor Hotels. He is also actively involved in some other iconic projects like the Raffles Hotel Singapore and the US Embassy Hotel London. Priyadarshi relishes the variety of work available to him in his role. ‘The company has a presence in all areas of luxury real-estate and hospitality’, he explains. ‘It’s a leading investor (both active and passive), asset manager, developer, and operator. This holistic array of operations has exposed me to the entire range of transactions from M&A to project and corporate finance, private equity to development and commercial contracting to multi-jurisdictional legal compliances. Dealings with an eclectic range of stakeholders – with differing and, at times, conflicting interests – have significantly improved and honed my negotiation and mediation skills’. In addition, the company and its subsidiaries being spread across four continents has, in his opinion, ‘provided me a unique perspective on the integration of legal compliances and corporate synergies’, further improving his professional abilities.