In a week of significant lateral movement between large Global 100 firms, White & Case has expanded its global M&A practice with the addition of Linklaters partner Marc Petitier in Paris.
Petitier is a renowned corporate lawyer with 20 years’ experience at Linklaters who has led on many of the most significant corporate transactions originating from France, advising clients on public and private M&A deals, sales and joint ventures, and corporate governance. He has experience across a number of different sectors, including technology, financial institutions, energy and infrastructure, and on Africa-related deals.
‘The strength of our global network, with on-the-ground, market-leading expertise in many of the world’s most important jurisdictions, means we can advise clients on their most complex cross-border matters wherever their transactions take place,’ said John Reiss, head of White & Case’s global M&A practice. ‘Marc’s reputation as a leading M&A partner will enhance our existing corporate capabilities in Paris and complement our strengths in finance, restructuring and disputes, which are more important than ever in the current economic climate.’
In Germany, Paul Hastings has made a significant capital markets hire with the addition of Katja Kaulamo from Skadden in Frankfurt. Kaulamo advises on a wide range of complex international corporate and capital markets transactions for top institutions, including investment banks like Goldman, JP Morgan and Bank of America, as well as private equity firms and large, sophisticated corporates. She has extensive experience with initial public offerings, capital increases, rights offerings, block trades and offerings of convertible and hybrid capital instruments, as well as investment grade and high-yield debt. Her practice also includes capital markets-related regulatory advice, corporate governance, public M&A transactions, and other corporate matters.
‘Katja’s arrival strengthens our integrated corporate and particular private equity offering in Frankfurt. This also marks the first of several significant additions we anticipate in the coming months as we accelerate the ongoing growth of our practice in Germany in response to clients’ needs and the trends we are seeing in the market,’ said Christopher Wolff, chair of Paul Hastings’ Frankfurt office. ‘Katja’s extensive experience advising German companies on their listings in the US capital markets as well as her high-yield skillset also open up significant opportunities for collaborating with our American and London colleagues to help guide our clients’ growth across borders.’
In Manhattan, Allen & Overy has added to its growing US private equity offering with the hire of Baker McKenzie transactional head Nicholas Marchica, who spent over a year at A&O in Australia earlier in his career.
‘Allen & Overy has been expanding its US private equity practice since 2017, and the addition of Nick to our talented team augments our offerings across the full spectrum of strategic M&A,’ said the firm’s US senior partner Tim House. ‘One of our key strategic priorities is to expand significantly our presence here in the US across all of our practices, enabling us to continue to serve our elite roster of clients on their most important initiatives. Nick’s arrival is another step toward that goal, and we expect to maintain that momentum and extend our reach.’
‘Allen & Overy served as a home for me early in my career, and I am excited to return at a time when the private equity industry is set to continue breaking records on deal values and volume,’ added Marchica.
In London, Hogan Lovells has made a significant move, hiring Herbert Smith’s UK head of intellectual property, Joel Smith.
Smith specialises in trade mark, copyright and trade secret litigation. He is also heavily involved in IP transactions and IP commercial deals, particularly complex collaboration, brand licensing and technology transfer arrangements. He has nearly 25 years’ of relevant experience, including working internationally in Hong Kong, Milan and Sydney most recently.
Also in London, Reed Smith has announced the hire of James Atkin as partner in its global energy and natural resources group.
Atkin joins from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe where he was global head of oil and gas. He was previously a partner at Vinson & Elkins for 10 years and has also worked at Baker Botts and Denton Wilde Sapte, where he qualified.
His practice focuses on upstream and midstream oil and gas, particularly liquefied natural gas (LNG), supporting clients across Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Africa, and North and Latin America. He regularly advises clients on large-scale oil and gas projects, LNG sales arrangements and energy-related acquisitions.
Formerly based in Tokyo for over a decade, Atkin has strong links with the Japanese market where he advised some of the region’s leading utility and trading companies.
mark.mcateer@legalbusiness.co.uk
