Profile
Rajat Shah brings more than 25 years of broad legal and business leadership experience, providing strategic counsel to clients across industries with particular emphasis on gaming and hospitality matters. He advises on a variety of corporate matters including bond offerings, mergers & acquisitions, corporate restructuring, and securities compliance, helping clients navigate critical financial and legal challenges in regulated environments.
Rajat has also founded and led a multistate hospitality startup, raising $20 million in equity through a Series A round and other contributions. As CEO of his own company, he managed celebrity-branded restaurant and retail operations in the Southeast and on tribal-owned properties, while also advising clients on operational improvements and acquisitions in the gaming and hospitality industries.
Rajat has held key executive roles, including executive vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer, and head of corporate development at Delaware North Companies, a global gaming and hospitality conglomerate operating on four continents. He also served as senior vice president of corporate development and general counsel at Seneca Gaming Corporation. In these roles, Rajat played a pivotal role in driving revenue growth through acquisitions, operational improvements, and development projects.
Rajat has negotiated terms for billions in domestic and international bond offerings and credit facilities, negotiated domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, advised public companies pre- and post-Chapter 11, counseled public companies on corporate governance and legal and regulatory compliance. His corporate practice also often extends into governmental affairs and real estate.
Concentrations
- Gaming hospitality
- M&A finance focused on the gaming and hospitality industries
Capabilities
Experience
- Counseled an online sports betting company with global operations in its $625 million initial public offering (through a de-SPAC) and listing on NASDAQ to facilitate its expansion into U.S. markets.°
- Represented renewable battery company in a $100 million C round equity raise.°
- Advised a technology provider in the mining industry in a $3 million Series A round equity raise.°
- Represented national commercial real estate developer in buy-out of co-founder, including multilayered financing with traditional and non-traditional debt financing.°
- Advised national commercial real estate developer in acquiring a portfolio of multifamily and commercial properties in the state of New York, including preferred and New York Green Bank equity and sale of investment tax and historic tax credits.°
- Advised global private equity firm on numerous private and public company acquisition matters.°
- Counseled municipal solid waste recycling facility developer and operator for a development project on tribal land.°
- Represented Belgium based international grocer in acquisition of a grocery store chain in Thailand.°
- Advised Suffolk Regional Off Track Betting Corporation in the acquisition of Jakes 58 Casino Hotel and $342.6 million tax-exempt muni-bond offering.°
- Advised Western Regional Off Track Betting Corporation in its hotel acquisition and $30 million tax-exempt muni-bond offering.°
- Negotiated slot placement agreements for global slot manufacturer throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina.°
- Advised Native American casino resort operator in $80 million credit facility and $200 million bond offering.°
- Represented Native American Nation in $160 million tax exempt-bond offering.°
- Represented international casino operator and developer in casino development opportunities in Panama City, Panama; Biloxi, Mississippi; Catskills, New York; and with the First Nations in Canada.°
- Advised national special servicer in CMBS assets in multibillion Chapter 11 restructuring.°
- Represented joint venture partners in submitting their (i) response to the New York Gaming Facility Board’s Request for Applications to solicit a proposal for a downstate casino license in the state of New York and (ii) licensing applications to the New York State Gaming Commission in connection therewith.°
°The above representations were handled by Mr. Shah Name prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
- Delaware North Companies, 2011-2016
- EVP, member of the Office of CEO
- SVP, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, Corporate Secretary and External Affairs
- VP, Corporate Development and External Affairs
- The Seneca Gaming Corporation, 2005-2009
- SVP, Corporate Development and General Counsel
- SVP, Corporate Development and Deputy General Counsel
- CEO, Phoenix Hospitality + Entertainment, 2016-2019
- CEO & President, SMS Advisory Services, LLC, 2009-2011
Recognition & Leadership
- Listed, City & State, “Who’s Who,” Casinos & Sports Betting, 2024
- Listed, Buffalo Business First, Legal Elite of Western New York, 2020
- Listed, Buffalo Business First, 40 Under 40
- Mentor to Startup Companies, 43North
- Board Member, Endeavor.org
- Eagle Scout of America
Credentials
-
J.D., Vanderbilt University School of Law
- Member, Vanderbilt Law Review
- B.A., magna cum laude, Gettysburg College
- District of Columbia
- New York