CMS Cameron McKenna LLP is delighted to announce the bolstering of its private equity capacity with the joining of a 7-strong private equity/corporate team, including three partners. The team comprises key members of the “flying squad” that handled CEE / emerging market cross-border private equity backed M&A transactions in the region for Linklaters until 2007.
The team is led by Ted Cominos, who joins CMS as International Head of Private Equity for CMS Cameron McKenna. Ted ranks among the few City lawyers to have been a partner in a magic-circle law firm and a partner / investment principal in a private equity fund - a combination that has provided Ted with unique insight into and understanding of the key issues and drivers affecting private investment fund managers. The team also includes partners Graham Conlon and Alexandra Florea, senior associates and associates John Făurescu, Cristina Proca, Anela Musat and Gokce Kilic.
The team worked together previously at Linklaters, where Ted was head of the firm’s CEE private equity practice until 2007. During this time, the team members worked on a number of landmark transactions together throughout the region and further afield, including the 2004 leveraged buy-out of Bulgaria’s leading mobile operator, the acquisition of a leading luxury retailer and of several large pharmaceutical companies in Turkey, and the acquisition and subsequent disposal of a telecommunications company in the Republic of Moldova, as well as several other significant transactions in neighbouring emerging markets.
Ted Cominos comments, “We are very excited to be joining CMS. We believe that the firm and its global platform are a natural fit for our team. This is a firm that is well regarded in the market as a leader in private equity and a leader in emerging markets - and we are confident that we can go further faster with CMS as a fully dedicated emerging market private equity team.” Alexandra Florea added, “I have great faith in our team’s future within CMS, with whom we share the same client-centred values and a focus on emerging markets.”
Dick Tyler, Executive Partner of CMS, “This will complement the strength and depth that CMS has in Europe through its PE regional sector focus, and is a great example of how CMS is working towards its goal of being the best European provider of legal and tax services.”
Duncan Weston, Managing Partner of CMS Cameron McKenna comments, “We are really delighted to welcome Ted and his team. They have a very strong client following among private equity funds based in the City, continental Europe and the US and as noted private equity experts in emerging markets, they bring considerable additional experience to our client offering.”
Todd Robinson, Managing Partner, Romania and International Management Committee, “There are very few firms that can boast the strength and depth of our emerging markets practice, and the arrival of Ted’s team is a further step to cement our reputation in this field.”
Since 2007, the team members have remained fully immersed in the private equity-backed emerging markets M&A space. After leaving Linklaters, Ted became a partner of Ethemba Capital LLP, a London-based emerging markets private equity fund. Alexandra also joined Ethemba Capital in 2008 as an investment manager. Graham and the rest of the team have been active in private practice, working for premium clients on significant private equity transactions in, among others, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria and India.
The team is focused on long-term, close relationships with private investment fund clients, providing market-leading upstream (fund-formation and administration) and downstream (investment structuring and M&A) advice for its clients. The team is committed to a regional model whereby its members travel extensively, “following the client” on deals throughout the world to give clients the benefit of ongoing support from dedicated lawyers who have worked with them consistently over the years and are familiar with their specific fund structures, dynamics and concerns.
|