Described as the ‘market leading’ team for hospitality and leisure, the team at CMS works with a host of domestic and international clients, including pension funds and sovereign wealth fund joint ventures. Key workstreams for the group include innovative letting structures, contentious tribunal work as well as more regular restructuring, licence agreements, acquisitions and disposals.Noted for his ‘exceptional market knowledge’, practice co-chair Thomas Page has a wealth of experience and expertise in hotel management and franchise agreements. Fellow co-chair David Roberts focuses on the team’s wider leisure offering, working with a significant roster of restaurants and chefs. Louise Wallace advises on M&A, hotel management agreements and hotel franchise agreements. James Miller specialises in hotel, management, rent and ground leases. Ian McGarr advises active lenders, investors and owners in respect of acquisition, investment, development and portfolio finance transactions.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Tom and Louise are exceptional, both in terms of industry knowledge and availability.'
‘Tom Page knows more about hotels than most in the industry. Louise Wallace is always a the end of a phone.'
‘Pragmatic, knowledgeable advice, proactive and responsive, value for money.’
‘Particularly responsive team with relevant sector expertise. Focused on the end goal with a protective but commercial view. Always willing to give advice and solutions, not just present a problem/risk.’
‘Josie Hearnden is particularly strong.'
‘Exceptional market knowledge and understanding. Without a doubt, the market leading hospitality team in the UK. The team is well integrated and offers a seamless solution for M&A hospitality transactions. They offer Legatics (as standard), a secure, online structured workspace based on a deal checklist that helps internal and external teams to share documents on a transaction, especially document management from draft to executed version. They were willing to underwrite a creative fee structure which allowed us to share some of the early deal risks in return for an upside premium.’
‘Thomas Page - exceptional market knowledge and ability to give practical, usable advice (including strategy on negotiation).'
‘Quality of service, speed of response to any form of contact on any matter.’
Key clients
- DTGO
- Hermes Central London Limited Partnership
- Arch AA UK Limited
- Cindat Capital Management Ltd
- TDR Capital
- Mowgli
- Henderson Park
- D&D London
- Edinburgh St James Limited and City of Edinburgh Council
- La Salle
Work highlights
- Advised DTGO on its reverse takeover of 3Cnergy.
- Advised Cindat Capital Management Limited on a new equity investment into an existing joint venture LLP that owns portfolio of 19 UK hotels.
- Advised TDR investment into fast food chain Popeyes and its subsequent acquired £37m stake.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
Thomas Page; David Roberts
Other key lawyers
Louise Wallace; James Milner; Ian McGarr; Josie Hearnden