The Eye ( Final)

sector overview
hospitality &
leisure advisory
Our Hospitality & Leisure Advisory team was established this year with
a focus on providing a range of services to owners, lenders and investors.
Martin Cairns (MD, London), tells us about his plans for the team.
How did you get
started in the
hotels business??
Well, my life has revolved
around hotels since I was
born! My father ran a global
luxury hotel chain so we lived
in a 5-star resort on Maui in
Hawaii when I was growing
up. I always knew I wanted to
follow in his footsteps, so after
attending hotel school in Las
Vegas I worked for a number
of international hotel groups.
Subsequently I moved into an
advisory role focussed on hotel
strategy and development
consulting. This evolved
into feasibility, valuation
and operational reviews of
commercial hotels and multicompenent
resorts in locations
such as Greece, Oman,
Mauritius, Spain and Morocco.
Later I moved into M&A
advisory as a primary activity.
What is unique
about the service
you offer???
This is a new initiative in the
EMEA region, although we are
working closely with our more
established colleagues in the
US and Asia. Our primary focus
at the moment is on supporting
M&A-related processes
with due diligence, as well as
providing high-end consultancy
advice as opportunities arise.
Our main USP is that we can
combine real industry expertise
and experience with best-inclass
professional teams across
a range of disciplines. Since
we have a wealth of experience
we are able to quickly
understand the issues, gain
credibility with management
and prepare reports that
hold water with experienced
buyers and newcomers alike.
There are few other companies
who can offer our combination
of high-quality transactional
or forensic capability with
in-house sector expertise.
What types of
clients do you have???
Earlier this year I advised AXA
Reim on a potential US$100m
Sheraton hotel acquisition in
New York, and I have also been
advising a hotel owner in Dubai
in relation to a contentious
management agreement with
an international hotel brand.
Through our advice, the
client avoided arbitration and
managed to get the agreement
terminated without cost - a
significant achievement given
the hotel brand was initially
asking for several million
dollars. I am now supporting
the client in securing a new
hotel manager/brand.
What types of
investors are
currently attracted
to the hotel sector???
The sector was significantly
affected by the financial
crisis and restructurings
were commonplace.
However, things have
rebounded substantially
and the adventurous buyers
of a few years ago are
enjoying great returns.
Many recent buyers are not
strategic hotel owners or longterm
investors, so a number
have been selling out within
18 to 24 months of ownership
and in certain cases earlier.
Across Europe there is a
significant amount of capital
which is looking at the real
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