Matt Rees, an M&A partner at Simmons & Simmons focusing on private equity, has resigned from the firm to join Proskauer Rose later this month.
Making the 10 minute trip from One Ropemaker Street to the US firm’s new offices in Heron Tower, Rees becomes the 17th partner at Proskauer Rose’s City office. His arrival follows that of well-known leveraged buyout lawyer Steven Davis, who joined in December from King & Wood Mallesons, having been head of corporate at SJ Berwin up until the firm’s merger with the Asian giant.
It is understood that Rees will link up with Davis’ growing private equity team and provide a bridge to Proskauer Rose’s rainmaking investment funds team, headed by Nigel Van Zyl which has HgCapital as a major client.
Rees departs Simmons after seven years, having joined from O’Melveny & Myers in 2008 and making partner in the process. He specialises in advising hedge funds and private equity houses on corporate finance and M&A mandates and is known for his work for Europe’s largest pension fund manager APG, advising the company on its creation of a £350m real estate fund in the UK in 2013, and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Special Investments on its European M&A work.
Proskauer Rose, which currently has 41 lawyers in the Square Mile, took an 18,000 sq ft lease in Heron Tower late last year to double its London office space to accommodate up to 100 lawyers.
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
