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King & Spalding Relocates Real Estate Practice Leadership to New York; Andrew Charles Joins New York Real Estate Practice as Partner
| Source: King & Spalding
ATLANTA, GA and NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- February 16, 2007 -- King & Spalding, a leading
international law firm, announced today that it is relocating the center of
operation of its well-known real estate capital markets practice to New
York City from Atlanta. The firm said it is expanding that practice in New
York with the immediate addition of Andrew H. Charles as a partner and
expects in the near future to as much as double to 20-25 the number of New
York attorneys working in this area. At least 30 real estate attorneys
remain in Atlanta and Houston and will continue to be fully integrated with
the practice's New York headquarters.
The move initially will affect at least six Atlanta-based King & Spalding
lawyers, including Scott J. Arnold, head of the real estate practice. Also
relocating to New York will be senior partner William B. Fryer and
corporate partner John D. Wilson. Associates Sara W. Brown, Thomas W. (Wes)
Brinkley and Rivers D. (Dave) Powell also will move to New York. Arnold and
Fryer will maintain offices in Atlanta and New York.
Arnold, Fryer, Wilson, Charles and the others will be joining King &
Spalding's New York-based real estate industry lawyers. These include
partner Wilfried E. Witthuhn and associate Sebastian F. Kaufmann, who
represent the largest German investment funds in their U.S. real estate
investment activities; Islamic finance partners Isam Salah and Andrew M.
Metcalf, who represent Middle East real estate clients; corporate partner
Anthony W. Rothermel, who works closely with the firm's real estate
practice on securities offerings for real estate clients; and finance
partner Vanessa Spiro.
"King & Spalding has enjoyed great success in establishing a premier
reputation in the private equity and mergers and acquisitions sectors of
the real estate industry," Arnold said. "Our real estate team is committed
to the expansion of our capital markets practice, particularly in New York,
London and other financial centers. We believe that concentrating our
energies on New York will greatly enhance both our service to our clients
and our opportunities to attract like-minded talent."
Joining King & Spalding in New York as a partner in the real estate
practice is Andrew H. Charles. He has extensive experience in all aspects
of real estate transactions, particularly representing real estate private
equity firms in all aspects of their acquisition, financing and disposition
activities. He also has handled mezzanine financing and mixed debt/equity
investment and financings, including construction financing and
securitizations. He joins King & Spalding from Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.
Charles received a J.D. degree, cum laude, from Georgetown University
School of Law and B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of
Pennsylvania.
King & Spalding's real estate practice has been at the forefront of the
public-to-private trend, having acted for ING Clarion, Morgan Stanley and
GE Real Estate, respectively, in the recent Gables, AMLI and Arden Realty
acquisitions. The practice is one of the most active in the country
representing sponsors of, and equity providers to, large real estate
investment funds. King & Spalding clients in this area include AMB Property
Corporation, Arcapita, The Brookdale Group, JAMESTOWN, KanAM Grund,
Macquarie Global Property Advisors, Paladin Realty Partners, Real Estate
Capital Partners, Regency Centers, Wachovia and Wells Real Estate Funds.
About King & Spalding
King & Spalding is an international law firm with more than 800 lawyers in
Atlanta, Dubai, Houston, London, New York and Washington, D.C. The firm
represents more than half of the Fortune 100, and in a Corporate Counsel
survey in August 2006 was ranked one of the top ten firms representing
Fortune 250 companies overall. For additional information, visit
www.kslaw.com.