Sydney, Australia, 5 March 2008 -Baker & McKenzie acted on the sale of Australia's premium hotel,the Park Hyatt Sydney, for $201.6 million. The price is an Australianhotel sale per room record of A$ 1.267 million per room.

Situated on Sydney Harbour with expansive undisturbed views of theSydney Opera House, the boutique hotel enjoys a high internationalprofile and counts many overseas celebrities amongst its regular guests.

Baker & McKenzie Partner Roy Melick led the legal team whichalso included Partner Graeme Dickson and Senior Associates David Jonesand Hanna Lee.

Roy Melick said: "It is rare for such a hotel to come on the marketand there was unprecedented onshore and offshore interest.  Togetherwith the other advisors, Jones Lang La Salle Hotels and Horwath HTLAustralia, we had to manage numerous bidders through an extensive andaccelerated due diligence process, co-ordinate a competitive tenderprocess and then finalise the contracts in a very tight timeframe – three days from the selection of final bidder to exchange of contracts.

"The entire due diligence process was managed electronically throughour client extranet platform  and the site could be accessed anywherein the world and by all the bidders and their consultantssimultaneously.  All requests for information, contract drafts andrelated materials were handled through the site.

"The purchaser was a private Japanese investor and may be thevanguard of further Japanese investment in Australia. With theassistance of Baker & McKenzie's Japanese office we were able toeffect the exchange of contracts simultaneously with our office inSydney, which was particularly important to effect an exchange ofbinding agreements between the parties in the client's timeframe.

"Being a global legal firm with strong local offices allows us tomanage and if required expedite single and portfolio transactions inthe international tourism sector, while still being sensitive to theindividual requirements of our clients," said Mr Melick.