Linklaters has pledged to rebuild its private equity practice following the departure of private equity chief Graham White and fellow partner Raymond McKeeve to the London office of Kirkland & Ellis last week. The magic circle firm has appointed M&A partner Charlie Jacobs to lead its London team, which includes senior associate Richard Youle, as well as several corporate partners carrying out private equity work including Carlton Evans, Stephen Black-shaw and Dominic Welham.
Jacobs told Legal Week: "The public M&A and private M&A markets are converging, so M&A lawyers like me are getting more involved.
"People here are pleased about having a broader team rather than one built around two people. I would not expect it to be too hard to rebuild."
White and McKeeve, whose departure to Kirkland has been rumoured for months, resigned at the end of last week and are expected to leave the magic circle firm within the next two months.
The pair, who previously worked together at SJ Berwin and Dickson Minto, have worked with clients including Apax Partners, JP Morgan and CVC Capital Partners, although all three private equity houses use a range of firms. The pair are known for working with the Tchenguiz brothers.
Jim Learner, a US private equity partner at Kirkland in London, said: "We have a strong presence with many of the US private equity houses and the addition of Graham and Raymond will allow us to increase our presence with the European private equity houses."
Learner said the firm would also be looking to expand its acquisition finance team.
However, private equity partners at rival firms have warned both firms may find it hard to gain a strong position in the busy European buy-out arena.
One commented: "[The moves] will damage Linklaters more than they will benefit Kirkland. Kirkland has a limited UK finance practice, it has fewer reserves for major transactions and it is weaker in Europe."
Kirkland declined to comment on speculation that the pair were moving for a combined salary of about £3m.
