A&O Shearman has hired a pair of partners from Stephenson Harwood to co-lead its global secondaries practice.
Sarah de Ste Croix, who headed Stephenson Harwood’s private equity practice, is moving with Gabriel Boghossian, who is recognised by Legal 500 as a next-generation partner for private funds in London, as well as their full team.
de Ste Croix joined Stephenson Harwood in 2019 as counsel from EY, where she had headed private funds. She was promoted to partner at Stephenson Harwood in 2021, and became PE practice head in 2024.
Boghossian joined Stephenson Harwood in 2017 from King & Wood Mallesons, where he spent nine months as a partner after joining from Macfarlanes in 2016.
A&O Shearman global PE co-head Peter Banks said of the hires: ‘These appointments are a transformative step for our private equity and wider private capital platform.
‘GP led secondaries have evolved from a niche product into a permanent, multi-billion-dollar capital channel in private markets, routinely considered by fund managers when considering possible exits for an asset, and we are delighted that Gabriel and Sarah are joining us,’ he concluded.
‘Our clients have told us that they need market leading secondaries capability,’ UK managing partner Denis Gibson added. ‘Attracting a team of this caliber is a strong endorsement of our strategy and of the platform we have built.’
The hires are the latest in a string of practice head hires for A&O Shearman. In the summer it brought in Phil Breden to co-head its Australian corporate and M&A team, while last month it hired Umberto Antonelli to lead its energy, natural resources, and infrastructure (ENRI) practice in Italy. Both partners joined the firm from Ashurst Perkins Coie.
The secondaries market has been particularly active in recent months, with Simpson Thacher hiring Weil partners Simon Saitowitz and Charles Cooper-Isow, while Debevoise & Plimpton hired Mary Lavelle from Freshfields, where she was global co-head of private funds and secondaries.
Commenting on her move, de Ste Croix said: ‘We are excited to bring the team to A&O Shearman and see a huge opportunity to build the next generation of secondaries offering, one with truly global reach.
‘We are taking an established market leading outfit and giving it unparalleled scale and opportunity across all asset classes and jurisdictions.’
Boghossian added: ‘This is a strategic bet on the growth of our market. Our clients require deep sector expertise and significant geographic coverage and joining A&O Shearman puts our team at the forefront of global secondaries transactions. This is the next chapter in the development of our team – business as usual, but with significantly more firepower and reach.’
