Linklaters has snared highly-rated Clifford Chance (CC) corporate partner Ian Bagshaw in a major boost for its private equity practice.
Bagshaw, one of CC’s best-known up-and-coming partners, is due to join Linklaters as a partner in the coming months.
The hire is significant as Bagshaw has acted for some of CC’s biggest buy-out clients including US giant Blackstone, CVC, Candover and Duke Street. He has also worked closely with acquisitive Australian bank Macquarie and was short-listed in the deal lawyer of the year award at the Legal Week Awards 2006.
Deals that Bagshaw has closed in the last few months include advising Candover, 3i and JP Morgan Partners on the $1.9bn (£977m) sale of Vetco Gray to GE’s oil and gas division. In the summer of last year he advised on Blackstone’s £423m initial public offering of Southern Cross, its first ever float in Europe.
Bagshaw will work alongside Linklaters private equity partners Charlie Jacobs and Richard Youle. The department acts for clients including HgCapital, Montagu, MidOcean and Sun Capital.
The hire is a boost for Linklaters’ private equity capability (see blog entry) following the departure of partners Graham White and Raymond McKeeve, who left for Kirkland & Ellis in March last year, and is symbolic for the firm coming almost 12 months after the moves.
Since White and McKeeve’s departure, Linklaters has had some success in rebuilding its buy-out practice including holding on to Montagu Private Equity as a client.
The team also bagged a lead role on the £750m acquisition of City Airport, acting for a US consortium led by insurance group AIG including GE Capital and Credit Suisse’s infrastructure funds.
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