John Keffer is a partner in the London office of King & Spalding and an international mergers and acquisitions and corporate lawyer with considerable experience in European and Latin American transactions. He is a member of the firm’s Corporate Group and Managing Partner of the London office, where he has been based since its opening in 2003.

Mr. Keffer has substantial experience in structuring, negotiating and documenting mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other cross-border transactions. His work includes the drafting and negotiation of joint venture agreements, cross-border acquisition and sales agreements, shareholder agreements, joint bidding and cooperation agreements and project related agreements. Much of his experience is related to the energy industry, in which he has acted for U.S., Middle East and European clients. He also has substantive experience in representing clients in the sports and retail businesses.

Born in Cuba and raised in Venezuela, Mr. Keffer is a native speaker of Spanish. He is also fluent in French and Italian. He is a Registered Foreign Lawyer under the Law Society of England and Wales and member of the State Bar of Texas and the International Bar Associations. Mr. Keffer served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Houston in 2001 and 2002. Mr. Keffer graduated from the Foreign Service School of Georgetown University in 1980 and earned his J.D. from Southern Methodist University in 1983.

Representative Publications and Speeches:

• “International Joint Ventures” - Financier Worldwide, January 2010
  
  
• "Venezuela: Migrating Away from the Apertura Petrolera" – Oil, Gas and Energy Law Intelligence, October 2006
  
  
• "A Guide for Successful Due Diligence" - Financier Worldwide, Due Diligence Review: M&A Behind the Scenes, 2004 Supplement
  
  
• "Navigating the Transatlantic Deal - Avoiding the Pitfalls of Cross-border Transactions" - Corporate Finance Magazine: M&A Review, April 2004
  
  
• "Sarbanes-Oxley and the US Deal Market" - Corporate Finance Magazine: International Guide to M&A Supplement, December 2003
  
  
• Gas-to-Energy: Structuring LNG Projects- presented to the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation’s Mining and Oil & Gas Development in Latin America; Santiago, Chile and Houston, Texas.
  
  
• Structuring International Business Transactions- presented to the Texas State Bar International Law Institute; Monterrey, Mexico.
  
  
• Consideraciones Sobre la Adquisición de Una Empresa Estadoudinense- presented to Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey; Monterrey, Mexico.
  
  
• Problem Solving in Action- roundtable participant in South Texas College of Law’s International Practice Conference; Houston, Texas.
  
  
• Houston/Mexico Trade Conference for Emerging Businesses- roundtable participant; Houston, Texas.