King & Spalding Expands Moscow Office

MOSCOW--(Marketwire - Jun 27, 2011) - King & Spalding has expanded its Moscow office with the addition of eight lawyers from Hogan Lovells and White & Case, the firm announced today. King & Spalding opened an office in Moscow -- its 17th office worldwide -- in May. The arrival of this group brings to 13 the total number of lawyers resident in that office.

"We welcome these lawyers to our growing Moscow-based team," said Sergey Komolov, managing partner of King & Spalding's Moscow office. "Their addition provides the office with additional transactional, arbitration and energy capabilities, enhancing our ability to work closely with the firm's extensive transactional and arbitration practices in London, Paris, Frankfurt and Geneva and with existing operations in the global energy centers of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Singapore, Houston, London and New York."

Joining King & Spalding from Hogan Lovells are associates Ivan Davydov, Kristina Kondruseva, Xenia Melkova, Alexey Shmelev, Valeria Subocheva and Ekaterina Zamoshkina. Peter Kotelevtsev and Alexandra Kotlyachkova are joining King & Spalding as associates from White & Case.

• Davydov, a corporate lawyer, focuses on international business transactions, mergers, acquisitions, corporate reorganizations and corporate governance. He also handles Russian antitrust issues in connection with domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, joint ventures and Russian law issues related to Foreign Investments in Strategic Entities.

• Kondruseva is a senior corporate transactional lawyer with Russian and U.K. legal education. She has extensive experience with mergers, acquisitions and private equity transactions in such industries as mining and metals, financial services, telecommunications, real estate and retail trade, as well as corporate reorganizations and corporate governance.

• Kotelevtsev, a member of King & Spalding's global transactions practice, focuses on energy and natural resource law, with experience in subsoil use rights and environmental regulations in the oil and gas and mining and metals sectors. He also advises on environmental law and Russian regulatory issues related to major project financing and on M&A, joint ventures and other corporate matters.

• Kotlyachkova, a member of King & Spalding's global transactions practice, focuses on due diligence reviews, joint ventures, M&A transactions and regulatory and environmental matters in the energy and natural resource sector, with a particular emphasis on regulatory and corporate matters in the power industry.

• Melkova, a corporate lawyer, focuses on corporate and regulatory matters in the mass media and broadcasting industries in Russia, with a particular emphasis on intellectual property matters for film production and distribution companies as well as personal data protection regulation.

• Shmelev, a corporate lawyer, concentrates his practice on corporate acquisitions as well as general corporate, transactional and litigation matters, particularly in the banking, telecommunications and retail sectors.

• Subocheva, a member of the corporate practice, deals with due diligence reviews, regulatory matters and legal research in connection with various mergers, acquisitions and private equity transactions.

• Zamoshkina is a corporate lawyer who focuses on the establishment of legal presence in Russia, mergers, acquisitions and cross-border transactions for major Russian companies across a range of business sectors. She also advises on issues related to establishing and operating Russian companies with foreign capital and advising Russian and international real estate development companies.

The Moscow office works closely with the firm's transactional and international arbitration practices in Europe. Complementing a broad-based transactional practice, the Moscow office offers particular expertise in the energy and natural resources, real estate, life sciences, financial services, automotive and telecommunications/media/technology industries.

In addition to Komolov, the founding lawyers of King & Spalding's Moscow office are transactions partners Olga Kozyr and Alla Naglis and counsel Iliya Zotkin, as well as energy partner Jennifer Josefson. King & Spalding's London co-managing partner Garry Pegg and Mark E. Thompson, its London-based M&A and private equity partner who oversaw the firm's plans for the Moscow office, together are leading the London-based portion of the Russia practice and continue to be significantly involved in the development of the practice in Moscow.

The new King & Spalding office is located at 10 Vozdvizhenka Street in Moscow's central district near the Kremlin.

King & Spalding has a long history of representing clients across the Commonwealth of Independent States. Its work with major energy companies in the CIS spans oil and gas exploration, development, production and transportation activities, as well as acquisition financing and the negotiation of joint venture, intergovernmental and host country agreements. In the natural resources arena, King & Spalding has represented investors in the acquisition and disposition of mining interests and other natural resources across the CIS. The firm for many years has also advised clients across an array of industries on financial services, construction, trade, intellectual property and real estate matters in the CIS.

About King & Spalding
Celebrating 125 years of service, King & Spalding is an international law firm with more than 800 lawyers in Abu Dhabi, Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dubai, Frankfurt, Geneva, Houston, London, Moscow, New York, Paris, Riyadh (affiliated office), San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Singapore and Washington, D.C. The firm represents half of the Fortune 100 and, according to a Corporate Counsel survey in August 2009, ranks fifth in its total number of representations of those companies. For additional information, visit www.kslaw.com.