Kirkland & Ellis topped M&A rankings for Europe last year, bringing in a total of $224.2bn in deals, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer came in second at $221.7bn. Little wonder then that rival Latham & Watkins has targeted Freshfields for its most significant London lateral hire in some time, bringing in public M&A rising star Sam Newhouse.
It is inevitable that public M&A work in London – long-considered the preserve of the Magic Circle – has become the latest hunting ground for ambitious US players as an alternative to private equity and funds-driven corporate work. White & Case is well-established in the area and Weil, Gotshal & Manges has made no secret of its desire to find talented company for veteran Mike Francies, as it did with the hire of David Avery-Gee from Linklaters last year.
The appointment of Newhouse is Latham’s most noteworthy M&A hire since the recruitment of former Allen & Overy partner and current global vice chair of its M&A practice, Ed Barnett, in 2017. Barnett said: ‘He’s one of the pre-eminent M&A lawyers of his generation from one of the pre-eminent M&A firms in Europe, so what’s not to like?’
Newhouse joined Freshfields as a trainee in 2003, making partner in 2013, and has a proven track record on big-ticket M&A deals across a range of sectors. Shortly before leaving Freshfields, he led on Neptune Energy’s acquisition of Edison E&P’s UK and Norwegian producing, development and exploration assets from Energean Oil & Gas. He also advised Neptune Energy on its takeover of ENGIE E&P.
Global vice chair of Latham’s corporate department, David Walker, told Legal Business: ‘We’re very targeted and deliberate with who we approach. Sam was one of the younger, high-profile corporate partners at Freshfields with a strong client following, good experience in-house and renowned for being client-focused. He has built out relationships with significant corporates, which showed us his ability to nurture large corporate client relationships, such as BP.’
Latham recently spread its corporate reach into emerging tech, also recruiting Mike Turner from Taylor Wessing and Shing Lo from Bird & Bird in January. Turner advises private and public companies and financial investors on European and transatlantic equity fundraisings and M&A, particularly in the technology, telecoms, media, sports and e-commerce sectors. Lo regularly advises high-growth companies, founders and investors on venture capital financings and M&A transactions.
‘There’s been a lot of interest and activity around take-privates. We’ve got a number of those public deals that are at different stages of their progression. That is definitely a feature of the market, from both the private equity and corporate perspective. But things have started to hit the buffer with coronavirus, so we’re definitely in a period of flux,’ Walker added.