Kirkland & Ellis has hired a finance partner in London from Allen & Overy.
Vanessa Xu is a sponsor-facing leveraged finance partner who has been with the Magic Circle law firm for more than 17 years, making partner in 2017.
Xu is joining Kirkland in London, the US law firm said in a statement.
“Vanessa is one of the leading debt finance partners in the market,” said Stephen Lucas, member of Kirkland’s executive committee and finance partner. “Vanessa’s experience further strengthens our preeminent debt finance practice, and we are thrilled to welcome her to the team.”
She will become the second A&O London finance partner to jump to Kirkland in London this year, following high-yield finance partner Marwa Elborai who moved to the US legal giant in March.
READ Kirkland & Ellis hires Allen & Overy London finance partner
The defections come ahead of A&O’s mega-merger with New York law firm Shearman & Sterling which is scheduled to go live in May.
Elborai joined A&O from Shearman in 2022, before the deal between the two firms was struck, but moved to Kirkland before the merger took effect.
Kirkland has been rebuilding in London after losing a team to Paul Weiss last summer led by debt finance heavyweight Neel Sachdev and M&A partner Roger Johnson.
In October, the firm poached two of Simpson Thacher’s top finance partners in London, Ian Barratt and Sinead O’Shea.
Last month, the firm bolstered its ESG offering by poaching Rebecca Perlman who was Emea head of ESG at Herbert Smith Freehills.
READKirkland & Ellis hires ESG specialist from HSF in London
In February, the firm strengthened its London funds team with the hire of a former Macfarlanes partner Alex Amos. The firm hired investment funds-focused tax partner Ceinwen Rees from Macfarlanes in November last year.
Kirkland posted revenue of more than $7bn in 2022, with average profit per equity partner of nearly $8m.
Law.com first reported Xu’s hire.
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