Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has strengthened its private equity platform in London with the hire of a pair of lawyers from White & Case. 

Partner Will Summers has joined the 1,900-lawyer firm alongside Michael Skouras, who has joined as of counsel having been an associate at White & Case. 

Richard Birns, co-chair of Gibson Dunn’s private equity practice group, said Summers brought a solid track record as an advisor to large PE sponsors. 

“We’re thrilled to have both Will and Michael join our global private equity team,” he added.

Summers advises private equity houses and financial sponsors on cross-border acquisitions, divestitures, co-investments and joint ventures, as well as minority and growth capital investments, carve-outs and corporate restructurings. 

He made partner at White & Case last year having joined the firm in 2014 from Oaktree Capital Management, later a client, and is recommended by The Legal 500 for London for private equity deals in the £250m+ category. At White & Case he acted for Eurazeo on its £1.75bn acquisition of BMS and Noble Group on its $3.5bn debt-for-equity restructuring, among other deals. 

Summer’s arrival follows Gibson Dunn making a “transformational” string of private equity hires from Sidley Austin and Vinson & Elkins in late 2021 that included partners Wim De Vlieger and Federico Fruhbeck, who joined as co-chairs of the private equity practice in Europe. 

The duo head a team that counts KKR, Goldman Sachs and Apollo Global Management as key clients and has a strong sector-focused approach, with De Vlieger noted for deals in the technology and life sciences sectors and Fruhbeck focusing on infrastructure, ESG and real assets work across Europe. 

More recently Gibson Dunn has bolstered its London transactional offering with the hire of David Irvine, who joined as co-chair of the global finance practice in Europe earlier this year from Linklaters. Last autumn Kavita Davis also joined the finance team as a partner from Simpson Thacher, where she was a counsel. 

A White & Case spokesperson commented: “We can confirm that Will Summers has left White & Case. We wish him success in the future.”