Holland & Knight Advises China’s Sunshine Insurance Group in $230 Million Purchase of Baccarat Hotel New York

NEW YORK (February 9, 2015) – Holland & Knight is advising Sunshine Insurance Group, a Chinese insurance and investment group, on its $230 million acquisition of the Baccarat Hotel New York at 20 West 53rd Street in Manhattan from Starwood Capital Group.

The luxury hotel occupies the first 12 floors of the 50-story Baccarat Hotel and Residences project scheduled to open the first week of March. The property, located across the street from the Museum of Modern Art, is the global flagship hotel for the 250-year-old Baccarat brand and marks the entry of this world-famous brand into the luxury hospitality arena.

Following the transaction close, the Baccarat Hotel New York will be managed under a long-term contract by Starwood Capital's SH Group, a hotel management company that manages and is the creative force behind the "6-star" Baccarat hotel brand.

Sunshine Insurance Group ranks among China’s largest and most successful insurance and investment firms. It succeeded in becoming one of China's S&P 500 companies in its first five years of operation and has also become the seventh-largest Chinese insurance group.

Holland & Knight attorneys Ying Geneve Dubois, Martin Miner, Joseph Guay and Allison McCarthy, who are members of the firm’s Hospitality, Resort and Timeshare Team, are advising Sunshine Insurance Group in their investment.