Prominent Private Equity Partner Joins Ropes & Gray in London

Ropes & Gray LLP announced that Helen Croke, formerly a private equity and M&A partner at Travers Smith, joined the firm as a partner in its London office on Oct. 21.

Croke has established herself as one of the leading private equity lawyers in the London market and specialises in UK and international private equity and M&A, including acting for institutional investors, corporates and founders.  She is highly ranked by both Chambers UK and The Legal 500 and was named in The Lawyer - The Hot 100 in 2011. By joining Ropes & Gray’s London private equity team, she will play a substantial role continuing the growth of the firm’s European private equity offering.

Mike Goetz, managing partner, London, said:

“We are delighted Helen is joining us. She will enhance the already very strong team that we have built in London over the past six years. The London office continues to grow, and we have no doubt that Helen will only increase the appeal of our offering to our sophisticated corporate, hedge fund and private equity clients across Europe and globally.”

Croke’s arrival brings the number of London private equity partners to five and enhances Ropes & Gray’s global private equity practice, recognised as a world leader for both transactions and fund formation by Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst, Private Equity International, Chambers and The Legal 500.  The London-based lawyers work in close collaboration with the firm’s global team of 175 private equity lawyers who advise leading large and mid-market clients in multiple industries on every aspect of their largest and most complex global transactions.

The London team has advised a number of funds and corporates on private equity transactions, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investments and co-investments, and is regularly instructed on the corporate aspects of special situations transactions, advising a number of sophisticated clients looking to deploy capital opportunistically in the current market.