Sullivan & Cromwell has made substantial hires to bolster its London office, bringing in restructuring partner Kon Asimacopoulos from Kirkland & Ellis and Mike Francies, former London managing partner of Weil Gotshal & Manges. Asimacopoulos, who spent nearly two decades at Kirkland, will co-lead Sullivan & Cromwell's London office and head its European restructuring and special situations practice. He will also co-lead the global restructuring group. Francies, a highly influential transactional lawyer known for leading Weil's London office for over 20 years, retired in late 2024 but has been drawn out of retirement to join Sullivan & Cromwell. These strategic hires are aimed at expanding the firm's private capital, restructuring, and M&A practices.
The firm's co-chairs, Robert Giuffra and Scott Miller, stated that Asimacopoulos and Francies will be "cornerstones" in their plans to grow their global restructuring, private capital, and M&A practices, building upon the existing European private equity practice led by Karan Dinamani. They also anticipate that these hires will attract other leading lawyers and enhance the firm's reputation for providing top-tier advice across all its practices. This move marks a departure from Sullivan & Cromwell's historically selective lateral hiring strategy in London, where it had only made a handful of partner hires in the preceding decade.
These recent recruitments follow the earlier appointment of regulatory partner Barney Reynolds from A&O Shearman in June. However, the firm also saw the departure of its European restructuring head, Chris Howard, and finance partner Presley Warner to Gibson Dunn earlier in the year. The addition of Asimacopoulos is seen by some as directly offsetting the loss of Howard, while Francies' deep network and reputation in the City's private equity scene are expected to significantly boost Sullivan & Cromwell's transactional capabilities and attract future talent. In December, the firm further expanded its London team by hiring private equity partner Aprajita Dhundia and tax partner Ian Ferreira from Kirkland & Ellis, with the duo expected to start in the new year. Asimacopoulos's recent work includes advising on significant cross-border insolvencies, such as the acquisition of OQ Chemicals by SVP and Blantyre, and counseling on the recapitalization of Prosafe SE.
