Akin Gump poaches two partners for London office

Akin Gump has hired two partners who work on secondaries as part of efforts to grow its European private equity operation.

The Washington, DC-headquartered law firm has hired Daniel Quinn and Aleksander Bakic from O’Melveny & Myers, according to a statement. They will focus on secondaries transactions, institutional investor representations and private equity fund formation at the firm’s London office.

Quinn acts for PE investors on primary and secondaries transactions, including GP-led deals. He also advises on the establishment of private equity, green energy, infrastructure, and emerging market and distressed debt funds.

Bakic advises European and emerging markets private fund sponsors, as well as investors in private equity, real estate, credit and infrastructure funds on primary and secondaries transactions.

The firm advised on around $2 billion worth of secondaries deals that closed last year, according to Secondaries Investor‘s upcoming law firm survey.

Akin Gump is not the only firm to be bulking up its secondaries practice. On Monday Secondaries Investor reported that Kirkland & Ellis has hired five lawyers in its London office, bringing the size of its European team to 15.