Magic Circle's magic continues in the USA

Magic Circle's magic continues in the USA

Allen & Overy attracts two White & Case leveraged finance partners in New York to bolster US presence

Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy (A&O) has made another dent to rival US law firm White & Case by securing the services of two leveraged finance practice lawyers.

White & Case partner duo Gordon Mak and Stanimir Kostov have joined A&O in its New York office. They were associated with White & Case's debt finance practice and private credit and direct lending practice, respectively.

Mak and Kostov have more than two decades of experience acting for clients across the leveraged finance market.

The move reunites the duo with partner Jake Mincemoyer, who had joined A&O from White & Case in February this year to lead its US leveraged finance practice.

"These hires are a continuation of our plan to deepen our bench of highly experienced and commercial leveraged finance lawyers in order to meet the growing demand for such service across the syndicated lending and private credit markets," Mincemoyer said, adding that he was looking forward to continuing to grow A&O's leveraged finance practice as the firm further expands its U.S. offering.

A&O has been investing to bolster its US capabilities for some time now. The firm had identified the US market as a strategic priority in 2016 and had then hired five New York partners including three lawyers from White & Case.

Both Mak and Kostov had joined White & Case in 2018. While Mak had shifted from Linklaters, Kostov had quit Goodwin Procter to join White & Case.

Mak handles cross-border financings, restructurings and work-out transactions on behalf of lending institutions, private equity sponsors, private credit firms and corporate borrowers, Kostov focuses on advising credit funds, alternative capital providers, banks, corporate borrowers and private equity sponsors in a variety of debt financing transactions.

A&O's leveraged finance practice currently boasts more than 250 lawyers across the US, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and the Asia Pacific.

According to Tim House, A&O's senior partner in the US, these hires will accelerate the momentum of the firm's US leveraged finance practice. House added that A&O is already distinguishing itself as a top player in the industry.