Kirkland & Ellis has hired private equity M&A heavyweight Will Aitken-Davies in London from Paul Weiss.
Aitken-Davies joined Paul Weiss in 2023 as head of European M&A from Linklaters, as part of the firm’s headline-grabbing London buildout that saw it repeatedly hit Kirkland & Ellis for star talent.
One of the City’s top dealmakers, Aitken-Davies focuses on private equity and infrastructure investor transactions, including acquisitions, carve-outs, co-investments, public M&A, consortium deals and hybrid equity investments.
He has advised KPS Capital Partners, General Atlantic, I Squared Capital and TDR on numerous matters, acting for the latter in its €4.3bn disposal of Modulaire to Brookfield in 2021.
Corporate partner Matthew Elliott, a member of Kirkland’s executive committee, said Aitken-Davies was a “natural fit” for the firm’s London private capital team.
“His diversity of experience leading European M&A for global sponsors and infrastructure investors will further enhance our ability to deliver integrated, top‑tier advice to private capital clients across London, Europe and the broader Kirkland platform,” he added.
Aitken-Davies’ departure marks the first major loss for Paul Weiss in London since the summer of 2023, when – having been left with only three partners in the City – it hired away a quartet of Kirkland partners led by top private equity debt finance specialist Neel Sachdev.
Since then, the office has grown to more than 50 partners according to Paul Weiss’s website, reflecting the firm’s drive to build a top-tier London practice around private equity off the back of raids on rivals including Ropes & Gray, Simpson Thacher, Akin, Macfarlanes and Clifford Chance, as well as Linklaters and Kirkland.
Aitken-Davies’ hire follows a stellar 2025 for Kirkland, which grew revenue and profit per equity partner 20% to $10.6bn and $11.1m, respectively. Its London arm – the third largest in its network – added 38 lawyers over the course of the year to reach a headcount of 557, according to publicly available data tracked by Pirical, including competition duo Nafees Saeed and Chris Thomas, who joined last December from Weil.
The office has also seen senior exits recently, however. Sullivan & Cromwell has lured away several partners, including restructuring heavyweight Kon Asimacopoulos, while private equity M&A partner Francesca Storey-Harris left for Paul Weiss last November.
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