Latham & Watkins is set to tap its biggest rival, Kirkland & Ellis, for a three-partner team that helped found the Chicago giant’s Riyadh office in 2023.
The West Coast firm is set to hire corporate partners Noor Al-Fawzan and Osama Lone alongside capital markets partner Manal Al-Musharaf, Legal Business understands. All three have been partners in Kirkland’s Riyadh office since late 2023.
The move will mark a return to Latham for the trio. Al-Fawzan spent seven years at Latham, making partner in January 2023 before moving to Kirkland later in the year. Lone was previously an associate at Latham between 2018 and 2023 before moving to Kirkland that year, while Al-Musharaf also spent time as an associate at Latham, before joining Kirkland from White & Case in October 2023.
Al-Fawzan and Lone both focus on private equity, with their past mandates including advising the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) on last year’s acquisition, alongside Affinity partners and Silverlake, of EA Sports, one of the largest buyout deals ever. Both have acted for PIF on multiple deals across the Middle East.
Al-Musharaf has extensive experience advising on matters across the Saudi public markets, including representing Saudi Aramco on the $1.3bn listing of its subsidiary Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company.
The departures will leave Kirkland with five partners in Riyadh, according to the firm’s website. When Kirkland launched its office in 2023, it described Al-Fawzan and Al-Musharaf as ‘two of the top Saudi lawyers in the market and leading women in the Saudi legal profession.’
Latham first opened in Riyadh in 2010. The additions will give the firm 10 partners in the city, according to its website.
