Sidley Austin continues to expand its private equity sector with the addition of another partner from Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison. It has now been announced that John Godfrey will be joining the firm’s M&A and practice equity practice as a partner based in New York. This comes as part of a wider trend, with Sidley having brought on a dozen lawyers from Paul Weiss over the last ten months.
Godfrey’s previous work includes being a part of a Paul Weiss team that worked with Apollo Global Management, Inc., and its funds on several transactions. Other partners added to Sidley’s team include Jeffrey Kochian, Gerald Brant, Brittany Harrison, and counsel Erika Cohen in New York. The firm has also benefited from the addition of Ramy Wahbeh, co-leader of Paul Weiss’ global private equity practice, and private equity partner Kaisa Kuusk in London.
This move is seen as strategic for Sidley, with Godfrey bringing over a decade of experience in public and private company sales and acquisitions. In an interview, Godfrey said, “For me, it’s a unique opportunity to help grow Sidley’s fantastic transactional platform while continuing to develop my own practice”.
Godfrey’s portfolio also includes experience in platform strategies, roll-up strategies, divestitures, joint ventures, minority investments, and other complex transactions.
In addition to Godfrey, Sidley has recently onboarded David D’Urso, the head of Akin’s US private equity and mergers and acquisitions practice, and partner Elazar Guttman. According to Brian Fahrney, global co-leader of Sidley’s M&A and private equity practice group, the firm continues searching for talent in private equity and M&A in New York, California, and other markets.