Freshfields has bolstered its private equity real estate capabilities with a double partner hire from Ropes & Gray.
David Seymour and Will Bryant are joining the magic circle firm after over a decade together at Ropes, with Seymour making partner in 2016 and Bryant in 2021.
The duo, who also previously worked together at Slaughter and May, are both ranked by the Legal 500 for commercial property: investment – Seymour as a leading partner and Bryant as a next generation partner.
The Ropes website lists them as the US firm’s sole London partners for real estate investments and transactions, working alongside two counsel and three associates.
They have a track record of work on cross-border transactions, advising clients including European and global private equity real estate funds, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and family offices, with industry experience covering data centres, logistics, major retail and social and educational investments.
Last year they led a team advising The Baupost Group on a £900m joint venture acquisition, together with KKR as its 50:50 partner, of a portfolio of 33 Marriott hotels across the UK. Other notable work for Bryant has included advising Brookfield on the JV aspects of its acquisition of three Heathrow warehouses in 2023.
Freshfields has been pushing forward with ambitious expansion in recent years, with revenue rising to more than £2bn for the first time in 2023-24. While the US is the firm’s fastest-growing region, the firm has also been investing in its infrastructure capabilities in the UK, recruiting energy and infrastructure partners Alistair McKechnie, Jessamy Gallagher and Stuart Rowson from Paul Hastings.
The firm has been a standout performer in recent deal rankings, placing second in the global tables for Q1 after acting on 33 deals with a total value of just over $100bn.
The exits for Ropes come after the firm also recently saw the departure of key private equity partner Helen Croke to White & Case.
In a statement announcing the moves, Alexander Watt, who heads up Freshfields’ London private equity real estate group, said that Seymour and Bryant join Freshfields at a ‘pivotal moment’ as the firm look to expand its global offering across private capital and strategic investors in the real estate sector, while global real estate head Niko Schultz-Suechting noted the importance of real estate as ‘the biggest asset class in the private capital space’.
Seymour and Bryant will begin work at Freshfields in the coming weeks.
