The success of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett where others have failed in luring Clifford Chance (CC)’s Amy Mahon to the other side has dealt a blow to CC’s corporate practice and other US firms vying to hire her.
Mahon – who in Legal Business last year told of her long-standing grievance with popstar Adele after a row over a nanny – told CC words to the effect of ‘that’s it, I quit, I’m moving on’ and surfaced at Simpson Thacher in January.
But had it not been for her fondness for CC, where she had been a partner for ten years, a move could have come much sooner. Mahon emerged as the most widely cited female partner for private equity in our ‘Alphas’ feature in 2018 and was cited by peers as ‘the most visible woman at Clifford Chance’.
Rumour has it that the much-sought after Mahon had been in talks with Latham & Watkins and was on the wishlist of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Headhunters and managing partners City-wide had concluded she was immune to suitors, with one recruiter describing her a year ago as ‘loyal to CC but could go anywhere she wants’. Simpson Thacher would have been less daunting to Mahon, who follows a path already trodden to the US firm by former CC heavyweights Adam Signy in 2009 and Jason Glover in 2010.
At CC, she had forged relationships with a wide array of clients including Apax Partners, KKR Infrastructure, Hermes and EQT. Having trained at CC, she added another string to her bow with a two-year stint at Macquarie Group before rejoining the firm at partner level. She specialises in UK and cross-border M&A, leveraged buyouts, infrastructure and consortium transactions, acting for financial sponsors, including private equity firms, infrastructure funds and investment banks.
Glover, now managing partner of Simpson Thacher’s London office, said at the time of the hire: ‘Amy is a perfect fit for our London team, having already worked on a number of market-leading transactions on behalf of longstanding Simpson Thacher private equity clients. Her impressive track record as a top M&A practitioner will further bolster our global capabilities and add additional depth to our bench of exceptionally skilled London-based lawyers.’
Recent standout mandates for Simpson Thacher’s M&A team have included advising Melrose Industries on the hostile offer for GKN; advising Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co on its $8bn buyout of Unilever’s global spreads business; and acting for Silver Lake on its acquisition of ZPG for $3bn.