Fifty private equity partners were hired in London last year, up from 28 the previous year, according to a new report by recruitment firm Macrae.
The report covers partner-level hires into law firms in London, focusing on the top global firms as well as the UK top 100.
While the majority of the moves (33) were lateral partner-to-partner level hires, seven of the hires came from in-house roles, highlighting the trend for moves away from buyout houses towards private practice. A further ten private equity hires joined as partner having previously held a more junior title at their old firms.
Goodwin and White & Case both made the most PE hires last year according to Macrae’s research, with each hiring four partners apiece.
White & Case brought over Laura Kayani and Nick Matthew from Ropes & Gray last September, just months after the firm hired Legal 500 high-value PE Hall of Famer Helen Croke from Ropes earlier that summer.
Meanwhile, Goodwin also added a three-lawyer team, with the firm bringing over mid-market PE Hall of Famer Anu Balasubramanian in December, along with partners Jamie Holdoway and Chetan Sheth, all from Paul Hastings.
Others making additions to their PE teams included Clifford Chance, Akin, Dechert, and Addleshaw Goddard, with each firm making three hires, while Sullivan & Cromwell and Freshfields recruited two partners each.
Notably, two of Clifford Chance’s partner hires came from in-house, with the firm bringing over Annie Lewis from Blackstone and Patrick Scott from KKR, at the start of the year.
One area seeing considerable lateral activity is PE real estate, which Legal Business recently highlighted had seen 20 lateral moves in the last 18 months.
Co-office managing partner for Macrae’s London team, Siobhan Lewington, said of the findings: ‘It’s significant that last year was the most active year for private equity lateral hiring in London since we began tracking these moves in 2020.’
‘When we see private equity partner moves almost double year-on-year, it’s clear that the market has become more mobile, driven by exceptional demand,’ she concluded.
