Every Monday, at 11am, the four co-heads of Ropes & Gray’s European private equity practice meet in London. The US firm marked 15 years in the City in December but, until 2025, did not have any presence in continental Europe. This changed last year when the firm launched in both Paris and Milan within six months.
The firm gave a further indication of its ambitions late last month, when it added a 10-lawyer team from Linklaters in Paris, as well as hiring the Swedish former GC of key client EQT, Paul Dali, in London. Demonstrating the growing appeal of its nascent European practice, the firm also closed a £3.2bn deal advising EQT on its purchase of Coller Capital.
‘As a global private equity firm, Europe is at the heart of our clients’ investment ambitions. We’re committed to growing our presence and capabilities in the region to help them succeed,’ says John Newton, one of the firm’s European PE co-heads, explaining that the continent was a market the firm could not ignore.
Now, at the start of every week, Newton and fellow London-based PE co-head Libby Todd are joined by their European counterparts – Fabrice Cohen, who joined from Clifford Chance in Paris, and Cataldo Piccarreta, who moved across from Latham in Milan but is based primarily in London.
‘The weekly meetings serve as a touchpoint for ensuring we operate as a genuinely integrated European platform – we discuss live matters but also pipeline opportunities that we want to flag to clients,’ Todd explains. ‘It’s multiple locations, but it’s one platform,’ London managing partner Rohan Massey adds.
According to Todd, while the openings reflect client demand the firm had to wait until it found the right partners. ‘Clients wanted the depth of relationship and consistency of service they received from us in the US and UK, replicated in continental Europe. But we had to be patient. It only made sense in making the move if we found the right talent – the Paris and Milan teams are best-in-class.’
Piccarreta (pictured), first came to the firm’s attention through some common clients. ‘Ropes saw an opportunity and we started discussions and there was a complete overlap in terms of clients. Some sponsors are important clients for me and for the firm, so this was an easy decision for everyone,’ Piccarreta said. Bain is a longstanding client of Piccarreta.
The client synergies were similarly clear for Cohen, too. In his former role, Cohen was the relationship partner for Partners Group in Paris, a key client of Ropes in the US.
‘Immediately, we’re working with a lot of key clients that are the same and therefore the synergies are obvious and the European platform is immediately efficient,’ he says.
But the opportunities to cross-sell are also evident, with Cohen hoping to introduce Permira, an existing client of his, to the firm’s wider network. These cross-selling opportunities have expanded further with the arrival of Edouard Chapellier and Jonathan Abensour, a funds and tax partner from Linklaters in Paris respectively, as the pair have a deep relationship with French private equity house Ardian.
While clients wanted the firm to have lawyers on the ground across Europe to bring local insight, Cohen reiterates the importance of viewing Europe as one single offering: ‘What we’re seeing is that our clients are internally less organised by jurisdiction, and more by the practices and verticals they cover. They would like their advisers to do the same,’ he says.
In Italy, a large driver of the maturing private equity market is sole-founders looking to monetise their assets. ‘Italy is a place where you need Italian speakers to do this,’ explains Piccarreta, who has opened more than 30 matters since joining in September. ‘One needs the soft skills as sometimes there is a cultural clash [between the founders and private equity]. This is our role now as lawyers, to speak both languages, not just Italian and English but to understand the perspective of the local people and of clients and investors… the most successful bids are built on trust, sometimes it takes years to complete a deal.’
While Dali will be based in London, in addition to solidifying the firm’s overall connection with Swedish PE powerhouse EQT, he also provides local knowledge of the Nordics, which remain a fertile area for private equity. ‘If you look at the pan-European perspective, [Nordic] funds are still growing,’ Dali says. ‘It’s an interesting trend compared to other parts of Europe, where assets under management for mid-market PE are generally flatter.’
While Dali doesn’t bring a book of clients with him, he returns to private practice with significant expertise in fund M&A and a wealth of contacts at GC level across Europe. ‘Paul is extremely well connected in EQT and in Europe and can bring new skills to our platform,’ Newton comments. ‘He has a track record leading negotiations for EQT in their acquisitions of other funds (Dali advised on EQT’s acquisition of secondaries fund Coller Capital) and we believe these skills can be accretive as we see more consolidation in the market.’
For Piccarreta and Cohen, launching new offices for such an established US firm was an enticing proposition. ‘It’s rare you have a firm opening in Paris,’ Cohen says, adding that the last big US firm to open in the French capital was Kirkland & Ellis seven years ago. ‘It’s an opportunity to create an office at the top of the French market and leave a legacy for the next generation.’
There’s no doubt the European expansion also helps reinforce the firm’s PE practice in London too. Ropes has seen no fewer than five partners leave across PE and real estate PE over the last year in London, most notably Hall of Fame partner Helen Croke left for White & Case last summer.
It’s clear that the firm is still very much in growth mode on the continent. Cohen says Ropes is still looking to add partners in infrastructure, finance and regulatory to meet the needs of France’s infra-focused market. Meanwhile, in Milan, the office has continued to grow with the addition of corporate partner Alessandro Capogrosso and antitrust counsel Jacopo Figus Diaz, who join from local Italian firms Pedersoli Gattai and Legance respectively.
‘With the firm’s transactional focus, we’re looking to grow the number of corporate partners in Paris, says Cohen. ‘The individual and culture will be essential since we are a people business so we won’t grow for its own sake but rather be opportunistic and selective.’
The London office will also grow in 2026, says Massey, ‘There’s no doubt about that. It will grow by headcount and revenue.’
Looking ahead, an opening in Germany could also be on the cards further down the line. ‘Germany is the largest economy in Europe,’ says Piccarreta, ‘so naturally we will consider it. Spain is an interesting market too but I like that at Ropes the firm doesn’t make theoretical strategies, it is about the concrete opportunities available instead.’
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