October 2024 – Kinstellar is very pleased to announce that Hugh Owen joins the Firm as a Partner, effective 1 October 2024.
Hugh is a very well-known leading M&A lawyer in the Central and South Eastern European region with an impressive track record. He spent over 23 years at Allen & Overy, including 13 years as a partner. He then ran his own law firm and M&A training business for four years as a sole practitioner, closing over 20 deals with a combined value of over EUR 2.5 billion. For two years from July 2022 to June 2024 he served as Head of Legal Business Solutions for PwC CEE, responsible for the strategy for Legal in over 25 jurisdictions, including Eurasia, core CEE countries, the Baltics, Ukraine and South-Eastern Europe. Hugh has worked on matters in a wide range of countries from Slovakia and Bulgaria to Lithuania, from Georgia and Serbia to Romania.
Hugh is a Solicitor of England & Wales, Lawyer, Consultant and Trainer. He has worked on a variety of large-scale corporate and commercial transactions in over 20 countries throughout the CEE and SEE regions in the telecommunications, media & technology, banking, insurance, energy, real estate, healthcare, infrastructure, recycling & waste, and industrial & chemicals sectors.
Over the course of his career, Hugh has been highly recognised by the main international legal directories Chambers and Legal 500 and other benchmark publications as a leading Corporate and M&A lawyer in the CEE region. In recent editions, clients note that ‘‘He is the dream team member on any English-law governed deal in CEE.” (Chambers Europe).
I have worked ‘across the table’ from Hugh in the CEE and South East Europe markets many times and always had a tremendous amount of respect for him as a lawyer, advisor and competitor. He has never failed to impress me – and I suspect, everyone with whom he has interacted - as a first-class individual and an outstanding lawyer. We are extremely pleased to bring Hugh over to our team and look forward to working closely with him in three critically important areas: client work, on which he excels; on special projects related to the expansion and growth of our overall business; and to building the right strategy for and harnessing AI and technology to deliver the best possible solutions for the Firm’s clients going forward.
Jason Mogg, Kinstellar Senior Partner
We are delighted to welcome Hugh to the firm! He is highly regarded and has had a strong focus on CEE for decades. With his extensive experience and acumen, Hugh perfectly complements our practice and will be of great value to our clients. We look forward to working together with Hugh to further enhance our strong M&A offerings across the region.
Kristóf Ferenczi, Firm Managing Partner
I am very excited about joining a law firm with Kinstellar’s pedigree. For me, it is attractive that Kinstellar’s genesis is from a Magic Circle law firm, so there is an element for me of ‘coming home’ to my best environment. I look forward to working with Kinstellar’s excellent team, which has strength and depth in resources and experience across the board, and to be involved in strategic, large-scale deals in the region and beyond. I am also excited about the opportunity to play a role in Kinstellar’s strategic growth plans, as well as helping to develop strategy in the fast-moving world of AI and legal technology.
Hugh Owen, Kinstellar's new Partner