NEW YORK – Sullivan & Cromwell partners Vanessa K. Blackmore and Robert M. Schlein have been named Co-Managing Partners of the Sullivan & Cromwell’s London office. William A. Plapinger, Managing Partner of the London office for the past 13 years, will remain in London and continue as Coordinator of the firm's European offices.
Vanessa K. Blackmore, who is English-law qualified, joined Sullivan & Cromwell as a partner in July 2006. She has a broad-based corporate finance practice, advising on UK and EU securities law, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, joint ventures and corporate governance. She has considerable experience in international equity, equity-linked and debt offerings and London listing work, with particular expertise in cross border transactions. Ms. Blackmore was recently recognized as one the "50 Most Influential Women in the Law" by Legal Business magazine and as a leading lawyer for capital markets in consecutive recent editions of Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, and Chambers UK, among other notable guides to the legal profession.
Robert M. Schlein joined Sullivan & Cromwell in 1993 and became a partner of the firm in January 2001 and has been located in London since 1999. Mr. Schlein is a member of the firm's Corporate Practice Group and has a broad-based multinational transactional practice. He advises private equity funds and other investors with respect to a wide variety of real estate, infrastructure-related and other asset-backed transactions in Europe, Asia and the US, including senior and mezzanine debt financings, joint ventures, leveraged buyouts, mergers, acquisitions and dispositions. Mr. Schlein also has worked extensively on the formation and fund-raising activities of numerous private equity funds and investment vehicles.
William A. Plapinger has an active client practice that focuses on securities, M&A and general corporate matters, with particular emphasis on complex, often precedent-setting, international and US financial transactions (in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, as well as the United States), advising industrial and financial companies, governments and investment banking firms. He has extensive experience in equity and debt financings by US and non-US entities and has been involved in more than a dozen international equity offerings of over US$ 1 billion by non-US issuers. Mr. Plapinger has been named by numerous publications, as, variously, one of the world's leading capital markets, international equities, IPO, M&A and privatization lawyers. Among other activities with non-profit organizations, Mr. Plapinger is Chair of the Board of Trustees of Vassar College.
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is a global law firm that advises on major domestic and cross-border mergers & acquisitions, finance and corporate transactions, significant litigation and corporate investigations, and complex regulatory, tax and estate planning matters. Sullivan & Cromwell's practice in Europe consists of over 120 lawyers, including more than 70 in London (of which 20 are English-law qualified), 30 in Paris and 20 in Frankfurt. The firm advises clients in Europe, the US, Asia, Africa and the Gulf Region across a broad spectrum of practice areas and with respect to US, English, French, German, EC Competition and EU law. Founded in 1879, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP has over 700 lawyers on four continents, with four offices in the U.S., including its headquarters in New York, three offices in Europe, two in Australia and three in Asia.