London – Sidley is pleased to announce that Jay Sadanandan, Sam Hamilton, Fergus O’Domhnaill, Joe Kimberling, and Ben Wright have joined Sidley’s Global Finance practice as partners in London. The group comes from Latham & Watkins. Ms. Sadanandan and Mr. Hamilton will be global co-heads of Sidley’s Leveraged Finance practice.
The addition of this market-leading team comes on the heels of Sidley recording an 11th consecutive year of revenue growth worldwide and its recruitment of a deep bench of outstanding private equity deal lawyers. It marks another milestone in Sidley’s pursuit of becoming the best-in-class financial sponsor legal service provider.
Ms. Sadanandan and Mr. Hamilton each have more than two decades of experience in advising on a wide range of multi-jurisdictional financing transactions, including acquisition financings, syndicated loans, private credit financings, bank/bond financings, bridge financings, public-to-private takeover financings, hybrid instruments, junior debt, investment grade loans, and post-IPO facilities.
Ms. Sadanandan is ranked Band 1 in Chambers UK and recognized as a “Leading Individual” in the Legal 500 UK for Acquisition Finance, and is described by clients as “one of the very top tier loan lawyers in the London market.” At Latham & Watkins, she was the global co-chair of the Private Equity Finance practice and the former office managing partner of the London office.
Mr. Hamilton is recognized in the Legal 500 “Hall of Fame” and is ranked in the top tiers of finance lawyers in multiple directories including Chambers and IFLR. He is described by clients as “one of the brightest lights in sponsor-side finance” and a “leveraged finance star.” Mr. Hamilton chaired the Finance department of Latham & Watkins’ London office for seven years between 2012 and 2019.
Messrs. O’Domhnaill, Kimberling, and Wright have worked together with Ms. Sadanandan and Mr. Hamilton for many years and have an established track record of advising on some of the most high-profile and complex transactions within the European and U.S. leveraged finance markets. Mr. O’Domhnaill is ranked by Chambers UK 2024 as “Up and Coming,” citing his high activity levels on sizeable transactions. Mr. Kimberling is ranked as a “Next Generation Partner” for Acquisition Finance by the Legal 500 UK. Mr. Wright was awarded “Rising Star Partner” by the International Finance Law Review in 2023.
“By adding this high-profile team of extremely accomplished lawyers to our Global Finance practice we have taken our premier platform for private equity clients, both in London and globally, to a new level,” said Brian Fahrney, chair-elect of the Executive Committee and global co-leader of Sidley’s M&A and Private Equity practice group. “Their collective legal firepower, knowledge, and demonstrated success in advising leading global sponsors and borrowers is second to none in the European market, and will considerably enhance the finance offering to our clients.”
“I am really excited that Jay and Sam, two of the most well-known sponsor advisors in the European market for leveraged finance work, together with Fergus, Joe, and Ben, have decided to bring their strong track record of growing client relationships to Sidley’s burgeoning London platform,” said Tom Thesing, managing partner of Sidley’s London office and a member of Sidley’s Management and Executive Committees. “These new partners are significant to our strategy of providing the best lawyers and the highest level of service to our clients to help them with new cross-border opportunities in the European market and around the world – and it is momentous that the addition of these partners brings our London team above 50 partners, in the year in which we celebrate Sidley’s 50th anniversary in the City.”
Sidley’s London office continues to attract some of the leading practitioners in the market, as it expands its work for private equity sponsors. Since January 2023, Sidley has welcomed partners Ramy Wahbeh, Kaisa Kuusk, James MacArthur, Ed Freeman, Ben Thompson, Phil Cheveley, and Kieran Sharma.
Sidley’s Global Finance group is a destination practice for high-value, complex financings across a broad spectrum of platforms, industries, and asset types. The firm is consistently recognized as having one of the world’s leading finance practices, with more than 170 lawyers practicing on all continents and a wide variety of industries.
The firm’s preeminent global M&A and Private Equity practice has more than 500 lawyers that are engaged in the full spectrum of public and private mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions across a variety of industries, including energy, life sciences, sports, entertainment, healthcare, real estate, consumer products, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, infrastructure, technology, media and telecoms, financial services and insurance, and metals and mining.
Sidley is an elite global law firm. With 2,300 lawyers, annual revenue of US$3.2 billion, and experience that spans 158 years, we have established a reputation using Built to Win℠ legal strategies in successfully representing clients in more than 70 countries on complex transactional, restructuring, investigation, regulatory, and litigation matters.
With 21 offices strategically situated in key commercial and financial hubs across the world, our perspective and our reach are truly global. Our lawyers and business professionals, fluent in more than 80 languages, possess the cultural awareness and cross-border legal acumen needed to bring clarity to a dynamic business landscape.
Matt Messinger, Director, Public Relations, +1 312 456 4009
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