Neel Sachdev Bullish on Paul Weiss London Growth, New Office

Paul Weiss has resurged as a private equity powerhouse in London in the eight months since snagging rainmaker Neel Sachdev, part of an intensifying recruiting war among elite US firms in the UK.

The firm in August 2023 lured Sachdev, now co-head of its London office, away from rival Kirkland & Ellis. The move came shortly after Kirkland poached the top Paul Weiss partner in the city, Alvaro Membrillera. The shuffling briefly left Paul Weiss down to two partners in the London. That total has since climbed back to 21 partners, along with another 100-plus lawyers.

“We have had a very strong start and have benefited from great client support and helpful market conditions to create an elite English law practice in London,” Sachdev said in an interview. “The trajectory looks amazing—it’s going to be a rocket ship of success.”

The firm is still looking to grow in London, where it leased new West End office space late last year. It’s also launching an office in Brussels, the firm’s first continental European base.

Sachdev, who is global co-chair of finance and capital markets at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, tops a list of big names the firm has landed in the last eight months. His clients have included top private equity players like Bain Capital and Apollo Global Management.

Paul Weiss has added a steady stream of partners since Sachdev’s arrival, including several from his old shop. Roger Johnson joined as co-head of Paul Weiss’ global corporate practice and London co-head alongside Sachdev. Debt finance partner Stefan Arnold-Soulby and IP and technology transactions partner John Patten are among other Kirkland lawyers to join the firm.

Sachdev says the office is currently acting on “multiple M&A and financing transactions for sponsors.”

Completed deals include advising House of HR, a Dutch-based portfolio company of Bain Capital in connection with a €150 million ($163 million) financing loan, with Sachdev advising alongside partners Matthew Merkle, Deirdre Jones and Kanesh Balasubramaniam, another Kirkland alum.

Paul Weiss was among the top legal advisers on global M&A deals in the first three months of this year, shepherding $57 billion worth of transactions.

Market Impact

The “eye popping investment” the firm is making to land prominent partners from competitors has “sent shockwaves through the market,” Rachael Gallagher, co-head of legal at Sequoia Associates said.

“In what was already an incredibly competitive market in terms of hiring, it has upped the ante to unprecedented levels,” she added.

Kirkland has moved to plug gaps left by Paul Weiss’ extended raid, adding private equity partners Ian Barratt and Sinead O’Shea from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in October. In March, Kirkland hired capital markets partner Marwa Elborai from Allen & Overy.

Simpson Thacher is among the ranks of other firms to make additions of its own in recent weeks, adding a pair of infrastructure partners from Weil, Gotshal & Manges in March. McDermott Will & Emery also has grown its London private equity bench, including a partner hire this week from Sidley Austin.

Paul Weiss has “refocused the other top players” to consider how to prevent key partners jumping ship and how to retain their junior lawyers, Gallagher said.

“The playing field has got wider and fiercer again,” she added.

Paul Weiss has hired four more partners this year. Half of that quartet come from UK firms: private equity partner Oliver Marcuse from Clifford Chance and corporate partner Dan Schuster-Woldan from Linklaters. Corporate partner James King and antitrust partner Annie Herdman joined from US rivals Kirkland and Ropes & Gray, respectively.

“We are delighted with the exceptional talent we have been able to attract to Paul Weiss in London,” Sachdev said. “In a short period of time, we have hired over 20 leading partners across private equity M&A, public M&A, debt finance, capital markets, IP tech, anti-trust and tax.”

The firm is funding the glut of London investment in talent with deep pockets. Its 2023 revenue hit $2 billion, an increase of just under 11% from the prior year, while profits per equity partner reached $6.5 million, according to data from The American Lawyer.

New West End Base

In October, Paul Weiss signed for a new, much larger London office space to accommodate this growth.

The firm has now moved into 20 Air Street in the West End, occupying 87,000 sq ft, according to Sachdev. That’s a huge upscale from the 15,000 sq ft the firm had at its former base in London’s Square Mile, where the majority of elite law firms who have homes in the city are based.

Paul Weiss’ new office puts it just streets away from several major private equity houses, including Bain Capital.

“The new office in the West End is a unique selling point for clients and talent and has created a terrific office culture,” Sachdev added.