Shearman & Sterling, 1996-2012
Arma Partners, 2013-14
Cinven, 2015-present
I come from a family of lawyers. My father was a lawyer, my uncle was a judge, so there was maybe some bias. What I like about the law is that it is very analytical and it rewards logic. You are trained to analyse any issues in a systematic way. Continue reading “‘A PE firm is one of the most interesting places for an in-house lawyer’ – Cinven GC Babett Carrier”
Year of qualification: 2009
Travers Smith, 2007-12
Goodwin Procter, 2012-14
MUSTO, 2014-15
Travers Smith, 2015-18
Livingbridge, 2018-present
Why did you want to become a private equity lawyer?
My first exposure to private equity was during my training contract at Travers Smith, which has one of the leading mid-market private equity practices in the City. I was working with an amazing team of lawyers and loved the buzz of the deal and the elegance of the PE model. I knew early on that this was the area of law I wanted to focus on. Continue reading “‘Creating value and preventing value destruction are two sides of the same coin’ – Livingbridge GC Jeremy Dennison”
Spencer Baylin, Clifford Chance’s recently-appointed London private equity head, discussed his ambitions for the practice with LB as we garnered views from peers on how the market is faring.
In December, CC lifer Baylin stepped up to the role soon after the high-profile loss of Christopher Sullivan to Paul Weiss’ M&A practice amid the US elite firm’s aggressive drive to build a top-tier corporate practice. Continue reading “‘Doubling down’: CC’s London PE head sets out strategy as buyout partners predict uptick”
Conversations with private equity and corporate partners in New York before March 2020 used to be predictable.
‘Busy?’
‘Oh yeah.’
‘Are you expecting to be less busy?’
‘Oh, no.’
‘Can anything stop you?’
‘I suppose the economy could collapse again.’ Continue reading “The Legal 500 View – The word from Manhattan”
In July, the board of DWF Group Plc confirmed market reports that it was planning to delist from the London Stock Exchange in a buyout by private equity firm Inflexion. Having floated in 2019, the fanfare of a record £95m IPO and a valuation of £366m to make DWF the UK’s largest listed law firm has arguably not lived up to the hype.
In the four years since, the firm’s fortunes have been chequered, with its highest valuation recorded just before the pandemic hit at 141.4 pence per share in February 2020, with a drop to 90 pence per share in March 2020 and an all-time low in June 2020 of 53 pence per share. Continue reading “DWF’s private equity buyout: Selling the family silver or the opportunity of a lifetime?”
‘Ten years ago, PE didn’t do take-privates that often; what’s changed over the last five years in particular is that they are now completely accepted as buyers of public businesses. All the regulatory authorities get it, the banks understand it, so there’s no limit on the deals.’ So comments David Higgins, Kirkland & Ellis private equity (PE) heavyweight on the ever-increasing influence buyout houses now have on the public markets.
Of course, public-to-privates are nothing new but the volume and profile of deals and the breadth of sectors they are investing across is continuing to rise to new heights. Inevitably, as it does so, many firms are responding by reshaping their corporate practices – not to mention the way they do deals. Continue reading “‘The most tonto year ever’: the story behind a frenetic 12 months for private equity – and what’s next”
