Kenton J. King

Kenton King is widely recognized as one of the country’s preeminent corporate attorneys. He offers his clients a strong focus on the technology, semiconductor and biotech sectors, regularly handling complex, cross-border M&A transactions and advising companies and boards on shareholder activism and corporate governance matters.

Mr. King also represents companies in joint ventures and other strategic partnering transactions, investment and capital markets matters and restructurings. He is a member of Skadden’s Policy Committee.

He previously represented Yahoo! Inc. in Microsoft Corporation’s unsolicited $45 billion acquisition proposal; Ascend Communications, Inc. in its $20 billion acquisition by Lucent Technologies, Inc.; and Compaq Computer Corporation in its $25 billion merger with Hewlett-Packard Company.

Fluent in Japanese, Mr. King has represented numerous U.S. and Japanese corporations in connection with cross-border transactions. He also has advised multinational corporations on acquisitions and joint ventures in multiple jurisdictions in Europe and Asia.

He was resident in Skadden’s Tokyo office in the early 1990s and worked for several years in the Tokyo headquarters of one of Japan’s largest integrated trading companies.

Education :

• J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law (University of California at Berkeley), 1987 (Editor-in-Chief, California Law Review; Order of the Coif)
• B.A., Stanford University, 1977

Admissions : California

Associations:

• Board of Directors, Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (2006-Present)
• President, California Law Review, Inc. (1996-1998)