Following Sidley’s hire of private equity specialists Ramy Wahbeh and Kaisa Kuusk from Paul Weiss in June, Legal Business caught up with Wahbeh along with London managing partner Tom Thesing, and partner and management committee chair Yvette Ostolaza, to discuss the recent expansion in the City.
So far this year, the firm has made a push to hire in the private equity space, recruiting seven partners in London including Wahbeh and Kuusk who both brought with them experience acting for large private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies on European and global deals.
Wahbeh, the former deputy head of Paul Weiss’ London office who spent over 18 years at his previous firm, told LB: ‘I joined Sidley two months ago and these have been the busiest two months I’ve had for a long time, and it’s been fantastic.’
Talking about his new role, he said: ‘The move to Sidley helps me serve our clients better, including in much broader practice areas and be able to continue working with them on cross-border work across Europe. And also, to focus on the more complex aspects of the deal, not on the details that every other firm can do.’
Among Wahbeh’s key clients is Apollo Global Management, which he advised on its partnership with Sofinnova Partners last year. He has also advised funds managed by affiliates of Apollo across various matters.
‘I’ve known many people at Sidley for many years,’ he continued. ‘We worked a lot alongside each other and on certain matters, we worked opposite each other. I started looking into the Sidley platform and its trajectory of building up the London office. I thought it would be a good fit for my practice and serving my clients.’
Freddie Lawson, head of partner search at Montresor Legal said: ‘Ramy is an excellent lawyer. Sidley is an ambitious firm with a young dynamic partnership and having someone like Ramy who has established client relationships, is exactly the person they need.’
Since launching its London practice in the mid-1990s, Sidley now has 219 lawyers in the City, marking a 38% increase from July 2017 where its London headcount stood at 159.
It hasn’t always been plain sailing for the firm though, particularly in the private equity space. In 2016, Sidley appointed Erik Dahl and Christian Iwasko from Kirkland & Ellis in 2016 as co-leaders of the firm’s private equity practice and co-heads of the European corporate and private equity group respectively. However, in a surprising turn of events, the duo departed for Goodwin in 2020.
Sidley has enjoyed an eleven-year streak of revenue increases between 2012 and 2022 after making a strategic decision, in the mid-2010s, to place a greater focus on the private capital sector. Its London financial results for 2022 saw revenue grow 26% from 2021 to $186.6m.
Ostolaza said: ‘We are coming off a strong financial year in 2022 where we generated the highest-ever revenue in Sidley’s 157-year history, showcasing that the firm continued to thrive in uncertain economic times because of our global platform, premier talent, collaborative culture, and financial stability.’
Commenting on Sidley’s recent growth, Thesing said: ‘If I look at where our biggest sources of growth have been in the last six to 12 months, London would be at or near the top of the list. We will continue to be looking to grow in London and more generally across our global platform. London will remain a focal point – among other key cities – for growth in the near and mid-term.’
On the firm’s strategy for growth, he continued: ‘It’s built around client relationships. We look to be involved in the highest-value end of this business – whether that’s in the transactional space or in disputes or in high-end regulatory investigations, crisis management – these are areas where clients need support at the highest levels with the best experience that your teams can deliver. Those are the areas where we’ll continue to look to invest and grow.’
Several other partners have also been added to Sidley’s London office in 2023 across a range of teams.
Former Weil partner James MacArthur joined Sidley’s global energy, transportation and infrastructure practice in March, which was followed by his Weil colleague Ed Freeman joining the month after. Also, Phillip Cheveley, previously the head of of M&A for EMEA at Shearman & Sterling, joined the firm as a partner. Sidley also expanded its restructuring practice in London, bringing back partner Kieran Sharma in February, who previously spent three years at Sidley as a senior associate. He joined from global investment firm Strategic Value Partners.
