Simpson Thacher has announced that Wheatly MacNamara will take over from Jason Glover as London managing partner in October. Glover, who has led the office since 2016, will remain at the firm in a strategic role. The news comes as the City office recorded a 23% rise in revenue for 2023.
MacNamara (pictured), whose practice focuses on real estate acquisitions, dispositions and joint ventures, joined the firm in 2005 and has been a partner since 2016. Her client book includes Blackstone, KKR, KSL, Apollo and Northwood.
Her key mandates include advising Blackstone on the Mileway last-mile logistics platform and its €21bn recapitalisation. MacNamara also advised Blackstone on its €12.25bn sale of Logicor to CIC, its $6.2bn take-private acquisition of Dream Global REIT, and its €630.7m acquisition of Hotel Investment Partners.
She is a Legal 500 Leading Individual for Private Equity: Transactions- High-Value deals and was profiled by Legal Business as a deal star Alpha in recognition of her prominence in the real estate sector.
Commenting on her appointment, MacNamara said: ‘For more than 40 years, Simpson Thacher’s London office has been known for providing clients with innovative solutions to address their most critical matters. In particular, the London office has enjoyed an incredible period of growth and success under Jason’s strategic leadership. I am excited to build upon his legacy and the firm’s remarkable achievements as we continue to expand and enhance our capabilities to best serve our clients.’
MacNamara is set to take over the reigns from Glover following a strong financial performance for the London office. The firm has reported a 23% increase in its London revenue, which has grown from $378.2m in 2022 to $465m in 2023. Revenue per lawyer stands at $2.1m.
Over the course of Glover’s leadership, the London office’s revenue has more than tripled from a starting point of $145.1m.
During this period, the size of the London office has also doubled. In January 2017 the London office had 21 partners and 113 lawyers. As of January 2024, it has 52 partners and 219 lawyers.
Speaking to Legal Business about the revenue growth, Glover said: ‘We are fortunate to have clients who are leaders in their fields, and their own growth has supported Simpson Thacher’s growth in turn. In addition, we have benefitted from our lateral hires, where such partners have been able to excel on the Simpson Thacher platform.’
Discussing performance by practice area, Glover noted that the firm had seen ‘increases in revenues across all nine of our verticals with strong outperformance in restructuring, funds and disputes.’
Looking forward to the next financial year MacNamara added: ‘We are anticipating a stronger M&A marketplace so we would expect our corporate, capital markets, credit, energy and infrastructure, and real estate teams to be major beneficiaries.’
Holly.McKechnie@legalease.co.uk
