Addleshaw Goddard partner Ben Rodham, who joined the firm only 18 months ago, has joined Shearman & Sterling’s fast growing private equity group in London as the US firm eyes more work in the sector.
The move strengthens Shearman & Sterling’s relationship with many of London’s most active private equity groups, with Rodham having advised Carlyle, Hg Capital and Bridgepoint in the past. That roster was kick-started during his time at Linklaters where he was an associate for eight years and part of the renowned private equity team of Richard Youle and Ian Bagshaw, who have since switched to White & Case.
Rodham’s relationship with Bridgepoint will be extremely valuable, given that Shearman managed to pip Linklaters on its latest acquisition, a £212m acquisition of forex provider Moneycorp.
His exit leaves Addleshaw Goddard with five private equity partners, but will come as a bigger blow as Rodham was influential in winning the firm a spot on BP’s most recent legal panel.
Shearman’s private equity team was boosted by the triple hire of private equity partner Mark Soundy, tax partner Sarah Priestley and private equity associate Simon Burrows, who joined as partner, from Weil Gotshal & Manges. Since their arrival in May, the number of lawyers in the group has risen from 15 to 20.
Shearman’s senior partner Creighton Condon said: ‘We have made the expansion of our global M&A/private equity practice a key strategic objective in recent years, and Ben enhances our offering with outstanding experience in private equity transactions.’
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
