Private equity takes the lead as CC restructures corporate

Clifford Chance (CC) has restructured its UK corporate practice, in a move that has seen private equity heavyweights Adam Signy and Matthew Layton take control of the public M&A group.

The magic circle firm has merged its much-vaunted London private equity department with its two international M&A teams to create one group co-led by Signy and Layton. The change is part of a bid by the firm to improve client relationships and give associates exposure to a wider range of work.

The teams - which include around 28 partners - were relocated onto two floors in CC's City HQ at the beginning of the month.

The three teams were previously led by M&A partners Daniel Kossoff and Neil Harvey as well as private equity partner James Baird, whose role as global head of private equity remains unaffected. David Pearson's position as head of London corporate - which also includes the funds, competition and financial institutions groups - is also unchanged.

Signy and Layton are two of CC's biggest private equity names and their appointments are evidence of the increasing internal influence of the buy-out practice.

Partners at the firm say Signy covers both public M&A and private equity and that the decision is an effort to make the department easier to manage. They added the shake-up would also help ensure client relationships, business planning and business development initiatives are managed consistently across the group as lines between the three teams were becoming blurred. The firm's Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co relationship, for example, was not managed from the private equity team, but by Kossoff's M&A group.

As part of the changes, associates within the merged team will also be given the opportunity to become more directly involved with clients and play a role in business development initiatives.

Peter Charlton, CC's global head of corporate, told Legal Week: "There has been considerable overlap between what the different groups were doing so we wanted to get rid of the artificial divisions."

Signy added: "We will be able to make sure the way the group operates and the way partners look after clients is more streamlined - it removes duplication and improves communication. The plan is also to make sure that associates work right across the spectrum of work and get more involved in managing client relationships and business development."

One private equity rival said: "This needed to be done."

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