KKR appoints Kathryn King Sudol as General Counsel

KKR appoints Kathryn King Sudol as General Counsel

Veteran GC David Sorkin of US private equity business will be replaced by Kathryn King Sudol

More than 20 years later, a global co-head of M&A at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is leaving the company to become general counsel at a dependable customer, KKR.

David Sorkin, the US investment giant's general counsel since 2007, will be succeeded by Kathryn King Sudol of New York, who will take up the role of chief legal officer. Both the positions are effective as of September 6, and at the conclusion of the first quarter of 2023, Sudol will take over as CLO and Sorkin will become an advisory partner.

In her 24 years with Simpson Thacher, King Sudol has held a variety of leadership positions, including eight years as the head of the company's M&A practise in Hong Kong and membership on its executive committee. She presently serves as the committee's chair for business development.

Her area of expertise includes contentious acquisitions, minority and investment opportunities, joint - venture, leveraged buyouts, going private deals, and other difficult and high-profile M&A transactions. She has assisted clients like Alibaba, Ant Financial, BlackRock, Cerberus, Hellman & Friedman, Silver Lake, and KKR. She is regarded as a top M&A and private equity lawyer by legal directories like Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500.

Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall, the co-CEOs of KKR, commented on the appointment, stated: "Katie has worked extremely directly with KKR and parts of our senior team either in the US or globally for many, many years. She is a distinguished attorney and a fiery leader who perfectly fits our culture. We are thrilled that she has chosen to join KKR, and we can't wait to collaborate with her as a strategic ally in accomplishing our growth goals for many years to come.

The executive committee head at Simpson Thacher, Alden Millard, stated: "Katie is an outstanding attorney, and we appreciate all that she has done for Simpson Thacher during her nearly 25 years with the company. We wish Katie the best of luck and are eager to collaborate with her and the rest of the KKR team in the future."

With 111 deals worth $325 billion, Simspon Thacher was placed 2nd in Refinitiv's league tables for the top worldwide M&A legal advisors for the first half of 2022. The firm, which finished second to New York rival Sullivan & Cromwell, which in H1 2022 worked on 88 deals worth $356 billion, lost first place, just like last year.

The M&A group at Simpson Thacher recently advised Microsoft on its historic $68.7 billion purchase of gaming titan Activision Blizzard and counselled Blackstone on its $24 billion recapitalization of Mileway, the largest operator of urban warehouses in Europe, in what has been dubbed the largest private real estate transaction in history.

Geoffrey Bailhache, the European General Counsel of Blackstone, a significant private equity client, was hired by Simpson Thacher as a partner in London in 2021.