Increased demand for US capital markets capability in recent times has seen King & Wood Mallesons dip into the laterals market, and appoint US securities partner Bart Capeci in London.
Capeci joins KWM from Sidley Austin, where he was a partner for six years. Qualified in the US he moved to Sidley from Allen & Overy to support its City push for IPOs, bond issues and high yield financings.
Seen as important part of the growth of A&Os capital markets practice during his 13 years at the firm, first as an associate and then partner, Capeci is an important appointment for KWM.
He joins the Hong Kong-based firm as it makes a concerted push for capital markets work, with US securities partner Christine Chen joining in Beijing from JP Morgan Chase, Gary Lock arriving from Herbert Smith Freehills in Hong Kong and Hao Zhou joining from Linklaters in the same city.
KWM’s capital markets practice secured roles as issuer’s counsel on Alibaba’s record-breaking $25bn IPO, National Australia Bank’s $5bn rights issue and China General Nuclear Power’s $500m bond issue.
Last week KWM advised on Hong Kong’s largest rights issue to date this year, with investment house Fosun International raising $1.5bn to fund a push into financial services.
Capeci becomes the 20th partner to join KWM in Europe this year, with the majority of those hires occurring in real estate.
William Boss, KWM’s Europe and Middle East managing partner, said: ‘Attracting talent like Bart Capeci is a sign of the growing strength of our global capital markets practice as well as our international finance team in Europe. Bart will complement the firm’s growing capabilities in US securities.’
Subscribers can read more about what’s going on at KWM in ‘Sum of its parts: can King & Wood Mallesons match the hype?
