Robin Panovka co-chairs Wachtell Lipton’s Real Estate and REIT M&A practices, which are consistently at the forefront of M&A and other major transactions in the REIT, private equity, real estate, hospitality and gaming industries. He also advises on activism defense, strategy, cross-border transactions, and large scale development projects, including the redevelopment of the World Trade Center and Little Island in Manhattan.
Representative matters can be found at Real Estate M&A Practice.
Panovka writes and lectures widely, including co-authoring “REITs: Mergers and Acquisitions,” a leading treatise published by Law Journal Press. He is co-chair of the NYU REIT Center and has served as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business and Law Schools and in NYU’s Masters in Real Estate Program. Panovka is a founding director of the International Institute for the Study of Cross-Border M&A (XBMA), a joint venture among Peking University, Cambridge and NYU. He regularly chairs annual conferences for the NYU REIT Center, Practising Law Institute and XBMA. Panovka is also active on a number of educational and non-profit boards, including the boards of Duke Law School and NYU’s Real Estate Institute; is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the American College of Real Estate Lawyers; and is a member of the Economic Club of New York.
Lawdragon Honors
Panovka was heavily involved in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center for more than a decade following its destruction on September 11, 2001 and played a hand in negotiating the master plan and “footprint swap” which paved the way to rebuilding, as chronicled in the Cornell Real Estate Review, American Lawyer Magazine and other publications.
Select Publications
- REITs: Mergers and Acquisitions,
Law Journal Press, updated through 2023 (first published 2006).
- Rebuilding the World Trade Center,
in Cornell Real Estate Review Vol. 10, July 2012.
- The Real Estate M&A and Private Equity Review,
co-editor and co-author of U.S. chapter, Law Business Research, London, Tenth ed. 2025 (Ninth ed. 2024; Eighth ed. 2023; Seventh ed. 2022; Sixth ed. 2021; Fifth ed. 2020; Fourth ed. 2019; Third ed. 2018; Second ed. 2017; First ed. 2016).
- REIT M&A in 2025,
2025.
- Little Island: Wachtell Lipton Advises on a Not-So-Little Project,
in Lawdragon, December 3, 2024.
- REITs Come of Age,
in The Business Lawyer, Volume 79 Issue 1, February 9, 2024.
- Cross-Border M&A - 2023 Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the United States,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, January 7, 2023.
- Mind the REIT Gap: REIT M&A in 2023,
December 7, 2022.
- Ground Zero Master Plans: The Commercial Imperative,
an online discussion between experts for future plans regarding the development of Ground Zero. Sponsored by The Skyscraper Museum, December 1, 2021.
- Cross-Border M&A – 2022 Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the United States,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, January 22, 2022.
- REIT M&A and Strategy in 2022,
January 3, 2022.
- REITs in 2021,
January 11, 2021; also available at Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.
- "New" IRS Guidance Provides Relief from Dividend Payment Requirement for REITs,
May 6, 2020.
- REITs and Covid-19: 15 Key Issues for Boards as They Chart the Course Forward,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, May 13, 2020.
- REIT M&A and Activism: Preparing for Threats in the Covid-19 Environment,
April 6, 2020.
- REIT M&A in 2020,
January 6, 2020.
- REIT M&A: Use and Overuse of Special Committees,
Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, February 20, 2019.
- Cross Border M&A - 2019 Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the United States,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, January 30, 2019.
- REIT M&A in a Complex Market,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, June 23, 2018.
- Lawyer Limelight: Robin Panovka and Adam Emmerich,
in Lawdragon Magazine, January 7, 2018.
- REIT M&A, Governance and Activism - Themes for 2017,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, January 4, 2017.
- Taking REITs Private - The Playbook is Back in Play,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, October 21, 2015.
- REIT M&A: Much Since 2000, More Ahead,
in GlobeSt.com, August 31, 2015.
- M&A is 'Wave of the Industry' for REITs,
in GlobeSt.com, April 16, 2015.
- Only Death, Taxes and REITs Are Inevitable,
in Premises, Spring 2015.
- Am Law 100 Trio Advises on $2.6 Billion Senior Housing Buy,
in American Lawyer, June 2, 2014.
- Am Law Duo Put to Bed $1.3 Billion Hotel Venture,
in American Lawyer, May 13, 2014.
- Industry Observers Have Mixed Outlook on REIT M&A,
on REIT.com, January 17, 2013.
- Sixth Circuit Upholds Tortious Interference Verdict Against Auction Loser's Overbid,
in The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, July 2, 2011.
- Silverstein's Army,
in The American Lawyer, September 2007.
- REIT M&A Transactions-Peculiarities and Complications,
in The Business Lawyer, Volume 55 Number 2 (February 2000).
