Fred Heller is the partner leading the firm’s international finance practice and divides his time between London and Moscow. He concentrates on assisting Russian and emerging markets clients in their financing needs and has particular expertise in the oil and gas and telecommunications sectors.
Mr. Heller has practiced in Europe for the past 20 years and served as partner in charge of the firm’s London office from 2001 to 2010. He has acted in significant transactions in Russia, all CIS states, India and every European Union member state. He also acts for clients in European Commission merger, competition and regulatory proceedings.
Mr. Heller participated in the development of telecommunications, from the introduction of competition to the present liberalized environment, advising a major American telecommunications company in its pursuit of mobile telecommunications licenses and ventures in most EU member state and advising a leading Russian mobile telecommunications company in financing its expansion through Russia, the CIS and other emerging markets.
Mr. Heller acts for issuers and borrowers in the full spectrum of emerging markets financings. These include acting for OJSC VimpelCommunications, Russia’s second largest mobile telephone operator, and its parent VimpelCom Ltd. in more than 30 financings aggregating more than $6 billion, the oil company OAO LUKOIL in financings and numerous other emerging market companies.
Mr. Heller is listed in the inaugural 2009 edition of Best Lawyers in the UK for mergers and acquisitions and receives mentions in Chambers & Partners and Legal 500. He is also listed in the Legal Business Legal Experts 2010 for Corporate M&A.
Before joining Akin Gump in 2001, Mr. Heller practiced with another international law firm. He established and managed that firm's Brussels office and, in 1997, moved to London to head its European offices.
Mr. Heller received his B.A. from Yale College and his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the State Bar of Georgia, is Registered Foreign Lawyer with the Law Society of England and Wales and is a member of the B Lit of the Brussels Bar.
Before entering law school, Mr. Heller worked as a news reporter with The Wall Street Journal, The Atlanta Constitution, The New York Daily News and The Concord (N.H.) Daily Monitor.