Latham & Watkins is bringing on Kirkland & Ellis deals partner Matthew Cohn in Boston.
Cohn is joining Latham as a partner in its mergers and acquisitions and private equity practice in Boston, the firm announced on Monday.
The move “is going to supercharge what is already a wonderful private equity practice for us in Boston,” Paul Kukish, global chair of Latham’s private equity practice, said in an interview.
Boston has been one of the top destinations for law firm expansion efforts, thanks to the strength of the city’s private equity, life sciences, healthcare, and technology sectors. Latham, which opened its Boston office in 2011, has now grown to over 100 attorneys with more than 30 partners in the city.
Latham is focused on expanding its private equity bench in Boston and Cohn’s hire will be enhance its offerings to its client base, particularly in middle market and large cap M&A, Kukish said.
“We’re quite successful in that market as we sit here today, and ready, willing, and excited about continuing to grow our presence in Boston,” Kukish said.
Matt Cohn
Photo: Latham & Watkins
Cohn represents large and middle market private equity funds, growth funds, and public and private companies in domestic and cross-border M&A. He also advises on leveraged buyouts, growth equity investments, structured equity and debt financings, as well as corporate restructurings and workouts.
Cohn helped open Kirkland’s Boston office when he jumped to the firm in 2017 from Weil Gotshal & Manges. His nearly 16-year career also includes stints at the now defunct Bingham McCutchen and Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
He has worked with the likes of Summit Partners, ABRY Partners, Genstar Capital, TA Associates, and Providence Equity, among others. Cohn was part of the Kirkland team that advised OrangeTheory Fitness earlier this year on its all-stock merger with Self Esteem Brands.
Cohn said he discussed with leaders at Latham about how the firm is positioned in the private equity space and other adjacent areas.
“As private equity transactions are getting more and more complex and involving other practice areas, it planted a seed in my mind in terms of how to think about the next 15 or 20 years of my career,” he said.
Latham worked on 149 global private equity deals worth $104 billion in the first half of this year, placing atop the leader board for global private equity deals by volume, according to Bloomberg data.
Though there’s been a meaningful uptick in private equity work this year, US activity in the private equity market remains choppy, Kukish said.
As traditional mid-market leveraged buyout activity isn’t as robust as in years past, Latham’s strength in capital markets and regulated spaces is what separates it from other firms, Cohn said.
“You have people looking at more creative types of deals or different types of structures and that’s where I think Latham distinguishes itself from pretty much every other firm,” Cohn said.
Latham also picked up Fried Frank private equity partners Brian Mangino in Washington and Amber Banks in New York late last year.
Cohn’s move to Latham was brokered by Josh Dull and Sabina Lippman of Lippman Jungers Johnson Downie.