New Hires Lead Paul Hastings’ Work on $6.7 Billion Deal (1)

A team of recently hired partners led Paul Hastings’ work advising food packaging company Pactiv Evergreen in its $6.7 billion acquisition by Apollo Global Management Inc.-backed Novolex.

The Paul Hastings deal team, announced alongside the deal Monday, was led by M&A partners Eduardo Gallardo, Jon Kubek and Tim Fesenmyer. The three partners joined the law firm in the past two-plus years, during a streak in which Paul Hastings has been among the most acquisitive law firms in the legal industry.

The Paul Hastings team worked across from Paul Weiss lawyers who advised Novolex, which was acquired by Apollo in 2022 from Carlyle Group Inc. Paul Weiss, which has strong ties to Apollo, also worked on that transaction. Paul Weiss partners Brian Finnegan and Brian Kim led the deal team advising on the latest deal.

Paul Hastings has hired from top rivals since firm Chair Frank Lopez took over in 2022, including adding at least three partners each from Kirkland & Ellis, Gibson Dunn, Latham & Watkins, King & Spalding, Weil Gotshal, and Cahill Gordon & Reindel.

The surge in hiring has led to demand growth. Total hours billed at the firm rose 12% in the first half of the firm’s fiscal year, Bloomberg Law reported.

The megadeal this week is the type of assignment firm Chair Frank Lopez might have envisioned resulting from his aggressive expansion. The deal brought together lawyers who hadn’t worked together until only recently.

Gallardo, who is global co-chair of Paul Hastings’ M&A practice, joined the firm in mid-2022 from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, where he’d also served in a leadership position. Kubek came to Paul Hastings last year from Willkie Farr & Gallagher. And Fesenmyer joined the firm in September from King & Spalding.

Paul Hastings’ deal team included two other recent hires: Sean Donahue, who joined last year from Goodwin Procter and is chair of Paul Hastings’ public company advisory practice; and Jason Ertel, an executive compensation, benefits and ERISA partner who was hired in June from Fried Frank.

“We are proud of the strong M&A platform we have built at Paul Hastings,” Gallardo said in a statement.

Mike Murray, chair of Paul Hastings’ antitrust and competition practice, also advised on the deal.

Lake Forest, Illinois-based Pactiv Evergreen went public in 2020. It was formerly known as Reynolds Group.