Cleary Gottlieb has made its first lateral hire in Paris in 25 years, recruiting private equity partner Emmanuel Enrici from Kirkland & Ellis, where he has advised major sponsors including Advent and Apollo.
Enrici, a Legal 500 next-generation partner for private equity: LBO in France, joins after seven years at Kirkland, where he was promoted to partner in 2021.
He joined Kirkland in 2019 from Latham & Watkins, having spent the previous six years in the firm’s Paris office.
His recent mandates include advising Advent on its exclusive negotiations to acquire French health and protection insurance wholesale broker Santiane, advising Apollo-managed funds on the acquisition of Forvia’s Automotive Interiors business, and acting for Providence Equity Partners on the €1.1bn sale of La Centrale.
Paris private equity partner Charles Masson, who will work alongside corporate partner Hugues Tabardel and Enrici when he joins later this summer, told LB Enrici’s arrival would ‘double the firm’s capacity in private equity overnight.’
Masson added: ‘Cleary has long had a reputation for excellence in M&A in Paris, but the private equity practice is more “up and coming.”‘ He said the hire aligns with the firm’s broader push into private capital and, while no further private equity hires are currently planned, described Enrici’s arrival as ‘a starting point.’
Cleary has had a presence in Paris since 1949 and now has around 100 lawyers in the office. By comparison, its London office has 164 lawyers, with partner numbers having grown by 65.2% over the past five years to 38 — a significant turnaround from 2018, when the firm was among the five fastest-shrinking Global London firms.
Cleary managing partner Jeffrey Karpf, who took office in January, said in a statement that Enrici’s appointment ‘is part of a broader commitment to ensuring our private equity capabilities match the scale and sophistication of the transactions our clients are pursuing across Europe and globally.’
Karpf told LB last year that the firm’s strategic priorities were ‘private capital, private markets and private restructuring.’
Enrici’s arrival follows a series of private capital-focused hires across the firm. In London, Cleary recruited funds partners David Christmas and Nathan McKinnon from Fried Frank, while in April it added New York private equity partner Matthew Schwartz from Gibson Dunn.
