backNEW YORK, November 11, 2014 — King & Spalding advised KFH Capital Investment Company, the investment management subsidiary of the bank Kuwait Finance House K.S.C.P., on the acquisition of two hotels in Manhattan for approximately $141.5 million from Connecticut-based private-equity real estate firm Greenfield Partners LLC and hotel management company Magna Hospitality Group from Rhode Island.
King & Spalding advised KFH Capital on the Cayman Islands investment structure put in place to raise the requisite equity for the transaction, the real estate acquisition, the hotel franchise and management agreements, the tax structuring and the financing.
In connection with the acquisition, KFH Capital obtained $98 million in Shari’ah-compliant financing from Cantor Commercial Real Estate, which intends to place the financing in a securitization vehicle.
The two properties are the 148-room Hampton Inn United Nations, at 231 East. 43rd Street, and the 135-room Holiday Inn Express Manhattan Times Square South, at 60 West 36th Street. Both hotels opened in February 2013.
The King & Spalding cross-office team advising on the transaction consisted of the following lawyers:
Middle East and Islamic Finance:
Jawad Ali (partner, Dubai)
Andrew Metcalf (partner, New York)
Alan Albright (counsel, Atlanta)
Moustafa Said (counsel, Abu Dhabi)
Timothy Tucker (counsel, New York)
Mahynoor El Tahry (associate, New York)
Tax:
Wayne Pressgrove (partner, Atlanta)
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