Robert Kritzman is a Partner and Business Unit Leader at Kelley Kronenberg, focusing his practice on corporate transactional matters. He brings decades of experience representing buyers and sellers in complex mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, multi-site retail and franchise transactions, and corporate finance matters across various industries including the maritime, hospitality, and retail industries.

Robert’s combination of general counsel leadership, extensive buy-side and sell-side M&A experience, private equity transaction work, and deep maritime industry knowledge positions him to serve as either lead counsel or specialized industry counsel for complex corporate transactions in the maritime, hospitality, transportation, shipping, and multi-site retail industries.

Prior to joining Kelley Kronenberg, Robert served as a partner at multiple law firms, where his practice covered buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, multi-site retail and franchise business transactions, venture capital start-ups, corporate governance, commercial litigation, cross-border transactions, bank financings, debt restructurings, and ship sale, construction, and finance transactions. He has represented clients in transactions exceeding one billion dollars, including representing a European pharmaceutical company as strategic buyer in a billion-dollar-plus acquisition of a micronization division, representing the purchaser of a luxury passenger cruise line in a transaction valued at more than one billion dollars, representing investors in purchasing a cruise line and related brand licensing rights, and representing the purchaser in the acquisition of more than seventy franchise units of a major global quick-service restaurant brand. On the sell-side, his representations include the sale of an international ship management company with over 700 vessels under management, the sale of a passenger cruise line, and the sale of a chain of twelve restaurants.

His broader transactional experience includes representing the seller in the divestiture of an industrial refractory design, manufacturing, and maintenance business; the seller of a hotel and property management project; the seller of an international spa and wellness company; parties in the sale of multi-site franchise businesses; creditors in hotel property restructurings and asset sales; partners in Caribbean resort development and financing; and shipping companies in acquisitions of distressed shipbuilders. His maritime practice covers shipbuilding contracts, vessel lease transactions, Jones Act and Passenger Vessel Services Act compliant financing and time charter transactions, and environmental and safety compliance matters.

Robert served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Norwegian Cruise Line for eighteen years, where he was responsible for all legal affairs and held executive management responsibility for human resources and government affairs. He served on the Board of the International Council of Cruise Lines and as an Executive Committee and Board Member of the North West Cruise Association.

Robert earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Florida. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law.