Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has added a partner in London from longtime client Blackstone to strengthen its real estate offering. 

Angus Lennox will join Simpson Thacher later this year after seven years at the private equity behemoth, where he has most recently served as managing director in the European real estate business, focusing on acquisitions, disposals and joint ventures. Earlier he worked at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. 

“Angus has deep expertise in the real estate private equity market across jurisdictions and is well known for providing creative and commercial advice on complex real estate deals,” said Alden Millard, chair of Simpson Thacher’s executive committee. “We are very pleased to welcome him to the firm.”

Lennox’s arrival at Simpson Thacher also follows the firm hiring Blackstone’s European general counsel, Geoffrey Bailhache, as a partner in 2021 to beef up its private equity offering in Europe.

For its part Blackstone is billed as the world’s largest owner of commercial real estate globally and earlier this month reported it had reached $1trn in assets under management, becoming the first alternative asset manager in history to reach that milestone. 

Simpson Thacher has advised the group in the US since its founding back in the mid 1980’s and over the years has advised it on a number of multi-billion dollar deals. More recently the firm has been winning work from Blackstone in Europe, last year advising it on the $24bn recapitalisation of Mileway, the biggest operator of urban warehouses in Europe, in what at the time was called the largest private real estate transaction ever. 

London office managing partner Jason Glover said: “Simpson Thacher’s London real estate team is a market leader, advising on some of the sector’s most challenging and impactful deals. The addition of Angus will bolster our ability to continue to guide clients on their significant real estate matters.”

The firm’s real estate team houses around 35 lawyers in London, including partners Edward Hampson, Tom Lloyd and Wheatly MacNamara, all of whom advised Blackstone on the Mileway deal. The team has advised Blackstone on a number of other major deals in Europe including its €30bn acquisition of a majority stake in Banco Popular S.A.’s real estate asset portfolio; other clients include KKR and Round Hill Capital. 

Farhad Karim, chief operating officer of Blackstone Europe and the global general counsel of Blackstone Real Estate, commented: “We would like to thank Angus for the invaluable contribution he has made to Blackstone over the past few years. We wish him every success and look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role.”

Simpson Thacher also announced today that Jennifer Albrecht had rejoined as a partner in the alternative capital and private credit practice in New York from SVB Capital, where she was deputy general counsel. Earlier she was vice president, senior counsel for Goldman Sachs’ merchant banking division and at Simpson Thacher will focus on advising direct lenders, investment banks and corporate borrowers in financing matters, the firm said.