Christopher D. Berlew

Chris Berlew is a  partner in Salans' Bucharest and Prague offices. Chris is an experienced M&A, real estate, corporate and capital markets lawyer who has advised global and regional clients in numerous transactions and legal issues throughout Central and Eastern Europe.  A member of Salans’ Global Real Estate Group since 2004, Chris has acted for institutional investors, developers, lenders, end-users and others on some of the largest and most complex transactions to take place in the dynamic CEE property market.  He has particular expertise in joint ventures, advising clients throughout the life spans of JVs in fields as diverse as real estate, telecommunications, IT, medical equipment, and green energy.

Chris’s CEE experience dates to 1994.  He has maintained an active practice throughout the region since joining Salans in 1998, initially in the firm’s Bucharest office.  Chris served as co-managing partner of the Bucharest office for three years and currently divides his time between Bucharest and Salans’ office in Prague, where he was based from 2001-2007.

Before joining Salans, Chris served as a U.S. diplomat in Romania and Kenya and as a supervisory lawyer in the enforcement division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. He began his legal career with one of the largest law firms in Boston, Massachusetts.

Recent Experience:

• Meyer Bergman’s joint venture with Neinver to redevelop Katowice’s main railway station, including a retail mall and office building
• Lufkin Industries’ development of a greenfield manufacturing plant in Romania
• Acted for Heitman, GE, AIG Global Real Estate, AIG/Lincoln, Aerium, TK Development, JER Partners, Crestyl, Discovery Group and others on acquisitions and dispositions (including on a forward sale basis) of numerous office buildings, shopping centres and logistics parks throughout Central and Eastern Europe
• OMV Petrom’s major IT outsourcing and lease transaction with IBM
• Hilton’s managed and franchise hotel projects in Romania
• Franklin Templeton’s management of Fondul Proprietatea, Romania’s largest investment fund
• Continental AG’s restructuring of its syndicated bank facilities and issuance of over €1.0 billion of eurobond
• DiverseyLever’s restructuring of its bank debt in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Turkey

Career:

• Partner – Salans, Bucharest and Prague (2011 to date)
• Managing Partner – Salans, Bucharest (2008-2010)
• Partner – Salans, Prague (2003-2008)
• Attorney and Partner – Altheimer & Gray, Bucharest and Prague (1998-2003)
• Foreign Service Officer – U.S. Department of State (1993-1998)
• Supervisory Attorney – U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement, Washington, D.C. (1989-1993)
• Attorney – Goodwin Procter, Boston, Massachusetts (1985-1989)

Education:

Languages:

• English
• Romanian