Paul Hastings has added a second corporate partner within a week as the firm seeks to build out its London M&A offering. Mark Zerdin is joining the firm from Slaughter and May, where he co-led the firm’s sports practice and led the Latin American practice.
Zerdin, who spent 23 years at the elite UK firm, brings experience advising sports teams, corporates and private equity firms on public takeovers, private acquisitions and disposals, PE investment, and joint ventures.
During his time at Slaughters, Zerdin’s clients included Liverpool Football Club, TWG Motorsports and General Motors, Ladbrokes, and investors and potential investors in a range of Premier League and Championship clubs.
He was also on the team that advised the Premier League on a range of matters relating to the Associated Party Transaction rules, with a dispute with Manchester City settling last September.
The hire marks the tenth into Paul Hastings’ London office in the last six months, including most recently PE partner Ferish Patel, who joined from Cooley last week.
Earlier this month, Paul Hastings also hired funds lawyer David Richardson from Simpson Thacher, in a move that saw Richardson make partner as the firm built on the arrival of fund finance partner Jennifer Passange, who joined from Haynes Boone last year.
However, the firm has also seen at least as many departures over the same period, including the exit to Goodwin last December of a three-partner PE team led by Legal 500 mid-market private equity Hall of Famer Anu Balasubramanian.
Last week, Sullivan & Cromwell hired two practice heads from Paul Hastings, bringing over Will Needham, chair of the firm’s European restructuring practice, and Patrick Bright, chair of its high-yield financing practice.
Despite this, the London office has seen significant growth, with revenue growing by 20% year-on-year and 100% over three years.
Commenting on Zerdin’s departure, Slaughter and May said in a statement: ‘We confirm that Mark is retiring from the partnership and we wish him well.’
