Federico Fruhbeck

Gibson Dunn

Federico Fruhbeck is Gibson Dunn’s best hope for breaking into the European private equity market once more.

The Vinson & Elkins (V&E) alum joined the US competitor with colleagues Rob Dixon and Alice Brogi, becoming co-chair of projects and infrastructure and head of private equity (PE) for Europe.

Fruhbeck is expected to breathe new life into the practice after the depletion of its star team. The Spanish lawyer has a penchant for infrastructure deals that span ESG, connectivity and power generation for a prestigious roster of clients.

In 2019, a year after joining V&E, he landed the largest French LBO in 2019, representing Groupe Bruxelles Lambert in the $3bn acquisition of call centre Webhelp. Fruhbeck found himself opposite what would become one of his biggest clients, KKR. Fruhbeck is one of the main conseilleurs for the PE firm’s $7.4bn infrastructure fund. He also cultivated a relationship with Asterion, including, in its debut deal, the acquisition of French plumbing business Proxiserve, as well as its £500m purchase of Energy Assets Group. Other prized clients include Blackstone, Apollo and CVC.

Fruhbeck is currently targeting headcount expansion for the new practice, focusing on broadening his PE activity to real estate funds.