The newly invented partner Joydeep Choudhuri jumps to former colleagues of the high-yield specialist
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After a high-profile raid with two partners in the summer, Cahill Gordon & Reindel hired a third leveraged finance partner from the London office of Allen & Overy (A&O).
Joydeep Choudhuri will be reunited with Jonathan Brownson, former A&O leveraged finance chief, and Jake Keaveny, a debt finance specialist, who joined Cahill last month.
Choudhuri, who has dual qualifications in both India and England and Wales, was promoted to the A&O partnership in May 2020. He is a lawyer with Magic Circle, where he has trained and qualified since arriving in London in 2008.
A specialist in leveraged finance, he was co-head of the company’s direct lending practice, specializing in leveraged multinational buyout finance. He has experience in the UK, EU and emerging markets including private credit markets and specialty lenders.
He has worked closely with Goldman Sachs, to which he was seconded twice during his time at A&O, most recently between 2018 and 2019. Early in his career, he was also seconded to Barclays Capital. His business experience includes working for KKR and other lenders and arrangers in addition to his work at Goldman.
That experience, plus his close relationships with Brownson, an industry veteran, and Keaveny make him a great offspring for the duo, strengthening Cahill’s capital markets and credit group in high-yield products, which is a key area for strategic expansion.
An A&O spokesperson said, “Joydeep Choudhuri has decided to leave Allen & Overy. We would like to thank Joydeep for the contribution he has made while at the company. “
The exit comes after A&O partners decided last week to reform the modified Lockstep affiliate compensation system to give the company additional flexibility in handling partner recruitment and retention, according to a report on Law.com.
Keaveny’s move can be seen as a targeted long-term replacement for high-yield finance partner James Robinson of Cahill London, who retired earlier this year. With Brownson’s hiring adding Gravitas to Cahill’s top-level London finance work, Choudhuri’s arrival supports the entire team while locking down the potential growth of the practice at various seniority levels.
According to Bloomberg, Cahill has a 31.1% stake in the representation in the high-yield market and a 45% stake in the leveraged lending market. Five years after opening in London, the company now wants to take advantage of the financing opportunities that arise from both the UK and EU markets. Its practice includes underwriters and arrangers, where it has been highly regarded for several years
Last month, Sherman & Sterling hired leveraged finance partner Gary Hamp of Latham & Watkins to strengthen its London finance practice. Hamp returns to the city after living in Hong Kong for more than a decade.
