Tom Richards

Weil Gotshal & Manges

Hired as an associate at Weil Gotshal in 2012, Tom Richards has spent the past eight years propelling the firm’s finance group into the City’s elite. Though small, Weil’s sponsor-side finance practice is deemed to be one of the most impressive in the market, holding its own with the likes of Kirkland & Ellis, a much larger machine.

There were deals aplenty over 2020, with Richards leading on the finance aspects of Cobham’s $965m (£709m) sale of its aerospace connectivity arm, as well as its branch of aviation services for military customers. A portfolio company of Advent, Cobham is just one of many PE-owned businesses seeking Richards’ counsel on complex transactions and increasingly technical leveraged financings. Other PE clients include Bain Capital and Novalpina, while CVC called on Richards’ know-how as it acquired all of Fairfax Financial Holdings’ interests in insurance provider RiverStone.

Weil’s London team has undoubtedly forged a name for itself on high-end private equity M&A, but Richards’ finance expertise has become an indispensable part of the office’s arsenal.