The pending retirement of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s leading figure in the City private equity market Allan Murray-Jones has been one of the worst kept secrets in the buyout industry. With the confirmation that he will retire this year with no clear successor, some pockets of the clubby private equity market have come to the conclusion that one of Wall Street’s top M&A shops is downgrading its private equity practice in Europe to functional coverage rather than core focus.
It’s a claim the US firm has marshalled considerable effort, including client testimony, to deny, though Skadden has so far at least avoided following rivals in bringing in expensive laterals to bolster the area.
