Linklaters forms finance proposing with Vinson & Elkins three partners

Linklaters forms finance proposing with Vinson & Elkins three partners

In its biggest team hire in recent memory in its hometown, Linklaters has hired the head of finance from V&E London

In addition to three partners from US rival Vinson & Elkins (V&E) in London, UK law firm Linklaters has added one from its own Magic Circle.

As part of Linklaters' biggest hire in the last few years in its hometown, V&E head of finance and M&A-Capital Markets' Noel Hughes, Giacomo Reali, and Christianne Williams will join Linklaters at the end of this month.

In a statement, Roland Berger said that the new additions will strengthen the firm's leveraged finance group's ability to execute deals across Europe, as well as promote the firm's strategy to represent financial institutions and financial sponsors on their most complex financing transactions.

The three are joining the team of nine English law leveraged finance partners covering lender-side and sponsor-side mandates for financial institutions, credit funds and private equity firms. They will work alongside US-qualified high yield partners Alek Naidenov, Mark Hageman and Colin Chang in London. With 500 clients like Carlyle Group, Hg, Citibank, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and JP Morgan Chase, Linklaters brings a Tier 1 acquisition finance team to client engagements.

In an uncommon instance of lateral hiring between Magic Circle firms, leveraged finance partners Annette Kurdian and Robert Burt left Allen & Overy in London last May to join Allen & Overy.

Vinson's London office also lost three private equity partners to Sidley Austin last August, marking the third team loss since then. Gibson Dunn's European head of private equity, Federico Fruhbeck, joined two more private equity partners who left in October for Gibson Dunn.

In the European and US market, Hughes focuses on financings of high yield bonds and leveraged buyouts. As an associate at Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy before joining V&E in 2018, he was a partner at Sidley Austin, and earlier he was a partner at Paul Hastings. In addition to guiding sponsors, issuers and investment banks through high-profile financings, he has experience guiding buyers and sellers in acquisition financings, debt liability management transactions and restructurings.

Giacomo Reali joined Linklaters earlier this year after having been promoted to partner at V&E. As a high yield expert, he will work with the firm's Milan legal team and its French and Spanish financial institutes. Taking a global approach in his practice, he specializes in high-yield debt offerings, acquisition and bridge financings, and preferred equity investments on behalf of financial institutions, private equity sponsors, asset managers, and corporations.

As for Williams, he joins Linklaters as a partner after serving as counsel at V&E, and before that he worked at Paul Hastings, Sidley Austin and Milbank Tweed. With specific experience in high-yield loans for companies across Europe and emerging markets in the energy, mining, and natural resources sectors, she focuses her practice on international capital markets and cross-border leveraged finance transactions. In addition, she provides debt management and debt restructuring advice regularly.

The firm's global head of finance, Andy Vickery, said that the trio would boost the firm's banking practice by providing expertise and skills.

The experience they will bring complements that of our high yield and leveraged finance teams and we are looking forward to enhance our offerings to the global market together," he said.

V&E's complex commercial litigation practice in Dubai was beefed up in March 2022 after recruiting disputes specialist Nabeel Ikram from Hogan Lovells.