As an international M&A lawyer, Yuval has many years of experience dealing with complicated, non-customary transactions involving parties from different countries, cultures and legal systems.  He has represented private equity, family offices, corporations and individuals in structuring, restructuring, managing and disposing of investments in Asia, Europe and the United States.  He is typically called upon to strategize and structure complex transactions that do not follow a prescribed form or pattern. Yuval’s experience enables him to forsee future issues and clients have commented on his “ability to think seven moves ahead of the competition”. Yuval is also well known for his ability to broker deals between opposing parties in order to get the deal done, irrespective of the legal, business or practical obstacles. His efforts have earned him recognition by Legal 500, Chambers Asia Pacific and IFLR1000, where clients have referred to his “ability to play the honest broker to all parties involved, and to bridge the different cultures, legal systems and language barriers and to continually solve the unsolvable, is what allowed us to get this difficult deal done” and another stated “he was completely invested in the deal in a way lawyers seldom are, and his creativity and efforts allowed us to bridge considerable gaps between the parties and find common ground”.

As co-head of our Hospitality, Gaming & Leisure Group, Yuval has worked on virtually any kind of transaction in the hospitality space, including mixed-use development and construction, acquisition and sale, restructuring and public offerings of real estate, hotel and casino companies. His experience covers traditional and more bespoke hospitality products such as hotels, casinos, branded residences, private clubs, nightclubs, restaurants and theme parks. He has completed numerous high profile transactions involving the buying, selling and combining hotel operating companies and brands, including AccorHotels’ [EPA:AC]  US$2.9 billion acquisition of Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel brands, its acquisition of Tribe, Australia’s first integrated modular hotel brand, Accor’s long-term alliance with Huazhu Hotels Group (also known as China Lodging Group [Nasdaq: HTHT]) and its strategic partnership with Singapore-based Banyan Tree Holdings [SGX:B58]. He also advised Formosa International Hotels’ sale and resulting joint venture with Intercontinental Hotels Group with respect to the Regent brand.  Recent transactions include the acquisition of sbe and subsequent formation of Ennismore, a worldwide hospitality lifestyle platform which currently owns 14 brands and operates over 100 properties, and the subsequent sale of a 10.8% interest to a Qatari based consortium; a strategic agreement for the development of the Faena brand, the sale of the Mexico-based Hoteles City Express brand to Marriott for $100 million,  the reorganization of the Sydell  brand and Accor’s sale and long term license concerning the Accor Vacation Club.  His broader Private Equity Real Estate experience includes working on The Recording Academy’s (The Grammys) deal to develop Grammy Museums in China, a public/private deal to finance an office building in Delhi, India; acquisitions of hotels in Bangkok by a large Japanese institutional investor and a joint venture between a Hong Kong developer and an Asian based private equity fund for the acquisition and redevelopment of a property in Kowloon into a mixed use property including co-living and co-working properties.

Yuval’s broader Private Equity Real Estate experience includes working on specialty real estate such as The Recording Academy’s (The Grammys) deal to develop Grammy Museums in China, a public/private deal to finance an office building in Delhi, India; acquisitions of hotels in Bangkok by a large Japanese institutional investor and a joint venture between a Hong Kong developer and an Asian based private equity fund for the acquisition and redevelopment of a property in Kowloon into a mixed use property including co-living and co-working properties.

Yuval is a member of the Hospitality Development Council of ULI in both the United States and Asia and was d member of the Steering Committee of the Asian council; he was also a member of the Law 360 2020 Hospitality Editorial Board. He is a regular speaker at real estate and hospitality related conferences such as the Hotel Investment Conference Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong.

Prior to rejoining Proskauer in 1999, Yuval practiced law in Israel, representing Israeli clients in transactions in Europe and the United States and European and U.S.-based clients in transactions in Israel. He handled transactions for major publicly traded Israeli companies such as Clal (Israel) Ltd., LifeWatch, Kitan Consolidated Ltd., Orckit Communications Ltd., ECI Telecom Ltd., Scitex Corporation Ltd. and Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. Since joining Proskauer, Yuval has continued to represent Israeli clients on a wide range of corporate and securities matters.