Linklaters has hired the co-chair of Paul Hastings’ London office to boost its private capital and credit solutions offering.
Mei Lian has joined the UK Magic Circle firm after five years at Paul Hastings, before which she was a partner at legacy Shearman & Sterling.
A leading specialist in credit solutions, Lian brings more than 20 years’ experience in high-end, cross-border finance transactions. Work highlights include advising Piraeus Bank on its €4.9bn recapitalisation and a consortium of lenders including Carlyle on a preferred share financing for Apex Group. She also advised Nokia Corporation on its €1.5bn five-year multicurrency revolving credit facility.
Andy Vickery, Linklaters’ global head of finance, said: “[Lian’s] expertise in credit solutions and her track record advising global private credit clients reinforce our position as a market leading adviser on complex financings, special situations and restructurings.”
Lian follows a number of recent hires in Linklaters’ global banking practice, including leveraged finance partners Peter Hayes from Paul Hastings and Angel Quek from Latham & Watkins, both in London, in May. This month in Paris the firm also hired an an eight-lawyer restructuring team from French boutique Darrois Villey led by François Kopf, who joined as global chair of restructuring and insolvency, and leveraged finance partners Pierre-Arnoux Mayoly and Shirin Deyhim from McDermott Will & Emery.
Lian has joined Linklaters off the back of a strong performance in the last financial year, fuelled partly by growing demand for complex financing and R&I work. The firm grew revenue by 11% to just over £2.3bn and profit per equity partner 15% to £2.2m.
Meanwhile Lian’s exit from Paul Hastings also follows leveraged finance partners Edward Holmes and Alexander Horstmann-Caines leaving the firm this year, for Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft and KKR respectively.
Horstmann-Caines was among a string of finance partners that had joined the firm in London over the previous few years from Weil, including structured finance lawyer Brian Maher and leveraged finance duo Reena Gogna and Patrick Bright. Late in 2023 the firm also hired William Needham from KKR to co-chair its European restructuring practice.
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