Profile

Elias Hayek

Shareholder, Co-Chair Hospitality Industry Group, Middle East and Europe
Greenberg Traurig

Elias represents multi-asset owner/developers, private equity funds, family offices, sovereign wealth funds, brand owners, and third-party operators in the hospitality, leisure, and entertainment sectors. He focuses on cross-jurisdictional hospitality- and leisure-related commercial and real estate transactions and has closed more than 500 transactions in over 45 cities across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. His practice covers hospitality mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, management, licensing and franchising agreements, hotel project leasing agreements, mixed-use and branded residential developments, and sale-and-lease/manage-back transactions. He advises on a broad range of hospitality development and operational matters, including management and licensing agreements for food and beverage, restaurant, health, and wellness operations, as well as general corporate and commercial transactions relating to third-party management, licensing, franchising, and service agreements. Elias also advises clients on hospitality-related contractual disputes and arbitrations. Elias received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Global Board. He has served as chair of the International Bar Association’s Leisure Industries Section, co-chair of the Leisure Industries Section, vice-chair of the Corporate Counsel Forum, and officer of the Legal Practice Division and Arab Regional Forum. He also previously served as chairman and president of the ACC’s Middle East chapter.