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 Michelle Kirkland
Partner

Michelle Kirkland

Languages
  • English
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Michelle’s focus is on the TMC, Consumer Products and Hotel & Leisure sectors. She advises clients on all aspects of, often multi-jurisdictional, matters including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate governance matters and general corporate advisory work. She also advises Hotels (and other) clients on commercial arrangements in connection with management, franchise and asset management agreements. She advises a number of charities and not-for-profit organisations.

Listed in Legal 500 2021 as a key lawyer. “Michelle Kirkland is a rising star. First-rate legal capability, hard-working and highly collaborative to get deals done across a wide range of stakeholders. Highly recommended.”

Relevant experience

Consumer Products

  • Amazon (leads the relationship with the Corporate Transactions team), supervising all UK Corporate Governance and Company Secretarial work.
  • French Connection on its disposal of women’s clothing and homeware brand Toast to Danish company Bestseller.
  • Nestlé, while on secondment and afterwards, on its three largest commercial contracts, and subsequent UK corporate advice, including on reorganisations and a sustainability related joint venture.
  • Japanese listed company Nagatanien on its acquisition of Chaucer Foods.
  • German company Talem on a potential disposal of a food business in North Africa and the UAE.
  • The individual shareholders of Hi-Spirits on its sale to US company Sazerac.
  • Apollo on its bid for Unilever’s global spreads business.

Hotel & Leisure

  • US company Advance Publications on its c. €1bn multijurisdictional acquisition of the Stage Entertainment Group, coordinating 100 lawyers across eight jurisdictions. Continuing advice to Advance and its subsidiaries, including Condé
  • Nast on matters of English law and other multijurisdictional projects.
  • Hong Kong based Neon Eight on its proposed acquisition of Les Ambassadeurs Casino in Mayfair.
  • Thai company DTGO on its c, £500m acquisition of a 17-hotel portfolio from Marathon, related hotel management and franchise agreements, financings and other post-Completion work.
  • Invesco Real Estate on its acquisition of the Andaz hotel in Amsterdam, post-Completion and Covid-19 related matters.
  • Ennismore on hotel management agreements (and related documentation) in connection with Hoxton Chicago.

TMC

  • French infrastructure investor Marguerite on its investment into and financing of the EllaLink Transatlantic Sub-sea Cable.
  • System providing high capacity fibre from Portugal to Brazil, with points of presence in (amongst other places) Spain, Madeira and Cabo Verde.
  • EllaLink on its high value commercial arrangements, including financing related matters, and advice in connection with its supply contracts and multi-jurisdictional customer contracts.
  • SSE on the c. £380m sale to Infracapital of a 50% stake in SSE Telecoms, which operates a 12,000km fibre network.

Charities and Not-for-Profit

  • Pride in London on its incorporation as a Community Interest Company in 2012 and lead point of contact thereafter on all corporate, commercial and other legal advice.
  • Sydell Group on the incorporation of a charity, Bow Street Police Museum, at the NoMad hotel London, located on the site of the Bow Street Police Station and Magistrates Court.
  • Travalyst on its incorporation as a not-for-profit, and transfer of assets from Sussex Royal.
  • Barclays Overseas Benevolent Fund on the transfer of its assets to the Bank Workers Charity and its subsequent winding up.
  • BT Benevolent Fund on its corporate governance and trust arrangements.

Education

  • 2009 – Commendation, Legal Practice Course, University of Law, London
  • 2005 – Commendation, Graduate Diploma in Law, Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames
  • 2002 – First Class BA (Hons), Oxford Brookes University, Oxford