Andrew Stevens – General counsel, Inflexion
Year of qualification: 2010
Slaughter and May, 2008-13
Och-Ziff Capital Management, 2014-16
HPS Investment Partners, 2017
Inflexion, 2017-present
Within law, the transactional side felt like the natural destination for me and, within that, PE always stood out.
I started my career at Slaughter and May and was fortunate to work under partners like Nigel Boardman and Frances Murphy. That provided me early career opportunities to be involved on some very memorable transactions at a time when the deal market was still processing the immediate effects of the financial crisis, and Slaughters was at the forefront of many of the most novel and challenging transactions that came out of that period.
At Inflexion, I’ve been lucky to be able to counsel at a senior level on a consistent range of complex, creative and high-quality PE transactions, particularly in the last few years. Inflexion’s recent investments in the legal services sector stand out of course: the investment in aosphere involved a competitive and complex carveout deal which required collaboration with our Allen & Overy counterparties in their capacity as both deal principals and lawyers.
The take-private of DWF was headline grabbing and justifiably so – another legally nuanced transaction in a fascinating sector that required some ‘first principle’ thinking with little by way of precedent to rely on. Also, during the same period Inflexion demonstrated the PE industry’s remarkable ability to execute on deals both at pace and across borders – a great example being the buyout of the Finnish tech business Nomentia in a hyper competitive process that required perfect calibration between the firm’s transaction, commercial and legal strategy. These deals, particularly when they come in quick succession, really test the range of skills and levels of professionalism that a PE sponsor and its legal team need in order to deliver effectively. They are also the sorts of transactions that you go into PE hoping to do.
Almost all sectors have experienced a lack of liquidity to some degree in recent years, so when that effect reverses more, I expect activity to return relatively broadly. That said, some sectors operate under their own steam at times and I’d put services (including legal services) into that category. It’s a sector where I still think there is a lot of creative and exciting deal doing to be done.
The private equity industry is very effective at identifying and growing talent. If you can demonstrate an ability to apply the intellectual and commercial skillsets required, under pressure but with consistently solid judgement, you will be afforded excellent opportunities early in your career. While it may be a style of working that suits some better than others, it’s hard to point to other industries that create the career opportunities that PE does.
