Ann-Kathrin Ziegler

Kirkland & Ellis advised O2 Investment Partners, a private equity firm investing in growth-oriented, privately-held businesses in the North American lower middle market, on the fundraising for O2 Investment Partners Fund V (Fund V) with $670 million in capital commitments. Read O2 Investment Partners’ press release The Kirkland team included investment funds lawyers Dan McQuade, Michael Black, William Ballentine, Kendall Kilberger and Allie Sopp; investment funds regulatory lawyers Nicholas Hemmingsen, Danielle Sartain and Matt Davis; investment funds ERISA lawyer Christine Matott; tax lawyers Dan Meehan and Florian Schütte; and financial services regulatory lawyers Albert Weatherill, Sky Kim and Matt Dixon-Ward.

Mar 3

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is pleased to announce that 200 attorneys have been promoted to partner effective October 1, 2024. Austin Name Practice Area Tanya Jane Embers Debt Finance Kelly King M&A and Private Equity James John Lomeo Intellectual Property Litigation Rachel Malhiet Tax John L. Polansky Intellectual Property Litigation Bay Area Name Practice Area Alistair Blacklock Litigation Michael Brar Investment Funds Psalm Cheung Antitrust & Competition Benjamin J. Jain M&A and Private Equity Todd Melchior Investment Funds Sean O'Connell Investment Funds Seth J. Pritchard Technology & IP Transactions Christopher Simpson Investment Funds Julia Waterhous ESG & Impact Michael White M&A and Private Equity Boston Name Practice Area Elizabeth M. Kelly Litigation Tony Mu Investment Funds William G. Phalen International Trade & National Security Kimberly Snyder M&A and Private Equity Chicago Name Practice Area Sarah K. Angelino Litigation Brian D. Arnfelt M&A and Private Equity Josephine Bae M&A and Private Equity Francesco A. Castaldi M&A and Private Equity Shirley Chan Litigation Alan Chen M&A and Private Equity Rob Dixon M&A and Private Equity Wes Gangi Investment Funds Frankie P. Gregg M&A and Private Equity Gabriela Zamfir Hensley Restructuring Adam M. Janes Intellectual Property Litigation Matthew Kita Debt Finance Jacob A. Klapholz Debt Finance Kelly McGinnis Kluka Healthcare Mike Kraft Litigation Neal Loughery Debt Finance Joshua Morgan Investment Funds Neha Nigam Litigation Caitlin Pyrce Employee Benefits Zoe Quick M&A and Private Equity Jasmina H. Resic Investment Funds Scottie Shermetaro Technology & IP Transactions Chris Stackhouse Litigation Claire Stephens Restructuring Katie J. Welch Litigation Carolyn J. Weltman Litigation Dallas Name Practice Area Jessica Berkowitz M&A and Private Equity John Christian Litigation Alexandra Dayneka-Hayes M&A and Private Equity Matthew Taylor Demopoulos Debt Finance James B. Kelly Debt Finance Ethan Joel Levinton Litigation Thomas Matteson M&A and Private Equity Jordan Rex M&A and Private Equity Skyler Sikes M&A and Private Equity Adam Wojcik M&A and Private Equity Hong Kong Name Practice Area Yawen Li M&A and Private Equity Mavis Sun Restructuring Mack Wan Investment Funds Jiayi Wang M&A and Private Equity Jonathan Yan M&A and Private Equity Leo Zhou M&A and Private Equity Houston Name Practice Area Ahmed N. Alrikhaimi Project Development & Construction Jack Chadderdon M&A and Private Equity Susan Czaikowski Investment Funds Jarrod Hunter Gamble M&A and Private Equity Peter Hyams M&A and Private Equity Grant Jones Litigation Daniel J. Kirksey Debt Finance Rebekah Kostelak Executive Compensation Charles H. Martin Debt Finance Nicole Dressler Martin Tax Brandon A. Newman Executive Compensation Orla O'Callaghan Litigation Danielle O'Neal Litigation Brittany Scheier M&A and Private Equity Gabrielle Sumich M&A and Private Equity Brittany Taylor Debt Finance Jacob Volz M&A and Private Equity Nathan Wolcott Investment Funds Michael Denney Wright Capital Markets London Name Practice Area Michael Akpomiemie Tax AJ Brown Capital Markets Fraser Burlingham Investment Funds Serguei Chevtchenko Capital Markets Gabrielle Chiu Investment Funds Alexander Clarke Investment Funds Fiona Coffee M&A and Private Equity Oliver Cutbill Investment Funds Jack Davies Government, Regulatory & Internal Investigations Raluca Dumitru Financial Services Regulatory Jef Dupont M&A and Private Equity Jamie Gordon M&A and Private Equity Kristin Hanshaw Investment Funds Alexandra Holden Debt Finance Julian Holland M&A and Private Equity Samantha Jones Antitrust & Competition Rhett McPhie Investment Funds Kunal Nathwani Tax Joseph O'Brien M&A and Private Equity Rohan Sahai Capital Markets Luke Scott Investment Funds Will Seal Restructuring Daniel Stathis Restructuring Yanru Tao Investment Funds Ben Zeris Technology & IP Transactions Los Angeles Name Practice Area Maisie Allison Litigation Elena Babakhanyan Debt Finance Spencer Brass M&A and Private Equity Timothy M. Cory Investment Funds Aura Gilham Investment Funds Nathaniel Edward Haas Litigation Sarkis Haroutunian Real Estate Phillip M. Kim Real Estate Leland Langston Investment Funds Peter Liskanich M&A and Private Equity Ugo Nwasike Investment Funds Joe Porter M&A and Private Equity Christian Rivas Debt Finance Michael J. Shea Investment Funds Philippe Simard M&A and Private Equity Van Whiting Capital Markets Andrew Won Debt Finance Arman Zadeh Investment Funds Miami Name Practice Area Gardner Bell M&A and Private Equity Paige S. Comparato Litigation Ashley Garcia Investment Funds Ngozi J. Nezianya M&A and Private Equity Alex Roggio Investment Funds Munich Name Practice Area Johannes Lappe Restructuring Maximilian Liegl M&A and Private Equity Ann-Kathrin Ziegler Restructuring New York Name Practice Area Marie-Joe Abi-Nassif M&A and Private Equity Nicholas Adzima Restructuring Vinicius A. Beraldo Debt Finance Maria L. Bourdeau Trusts & Estates Travis Bruno Executive Compensation Lisa S. Cha Executive Compensation Bradley Cho Debt Finance Julia Y. Choi Debt Finance Erica D. Clark Restructuring Paige N. Costakos Executive Compensation Ross J. Fiedler Restructuring John Folkerth Investment Funds Gina Park Garcia Real Estate Adamantia Giannakis Real Estate Amanda B. Gottlieb M&A and Private Equity Ethan Green Investment Funds Ashley Grolig Litigation Raghav Gupta Debt Finance Zahraa Hadi M&A and Private Equity Yoonie Han Debt Finance Matthew B. Hershkowitz Intellectual Property Litigation Adam Holzschuh M&A and Private Equity Alee Jamel Tax Anusheh Khoshsima Employment & Labor Esther Kim Investment Funds David B. Kobray Debt Finance Amanda Lamothe-Cadet Litigation Alexander Lazar Investment Funds Sandra Lewitz M&A and Private Equity Dan Li M&A and Private Equity Eric Li M&A and Private Equity Zachary R. Manning Restructuring Sumer Marquette M&A and Private Equity Ashley Martin Debt Finance Callie McBreen Investment Funds Annemarie Mierzejewski Executive Compensation Adam Mohamed Debt Finance Giorgia A. Nagalli M&A and Private Equity Ashlee Newman Investment Funds Patrick O'Connor M&A and Private Equity Abbey Quigley Intellectual Property Litigation Alix Simnock M&A and Private Equity Divya Suwasini Investment Funds Oliver Yee M&A and Private Equity Paris Name Practice Area Louise Chappey Tax Riyadh Name Practice Area Husni Almousli Restructuring Salt Lake City Name Practice Area Robert M. Ahlander Investment Funds Michael Farrell Tax Mike Lehr Litigation Garrett W. Messerly Litigation Jonathan R. Palmer Investment Funds David R. Williams Litigation Washington, D.C. Name Practice Area Chris Brassfield Antitrust & Competition Ashley Cade Intellectual Property Litigation Soowan Julia Choi Litigation Nicole M. Cleminshaw Government, Regulatory & Internal Investigations Kayla M. Davis Employment & Labor Leah Hamlin Litigation Bradley Jensen Debt Finance William P. Lane Investment Funds Luke P. McGuire Litigation Matthew J. McIntee Intellectual Property Litigation Yaffa A. Meeran Litigation Camille Mott Investment Funds Meredith Pohl Litigation Chad Richards Energy Regulatory James C. Robinson Litigation Lauren Taylor Antitrust & Competition Lany L. Villalobos Executive Compensation Note: For certain partners, admission will take effect when any necessary regulatory requirements have been satisfied.

Oct 1

5 min

Kirkland & Ellis has advised the lenders under LEONI AG’s EUR 750 million RCF facility on the groundbreaking restructuring of the German automotive supplier. The LEONI restructuring is by far the largest process under the Act on the Stabilization- and Restructuring Framework for Companies (StaRUG) since its inception in January 2021 and a milestone in the German restructuring landscape. LEONI is a global provider of products, solutions and services for energy and data management in the automotive sector and other industries. The value chain encompasses wires, optical fibers, standardized cables, special cables and assembled systems as well as intelligent products and smart services. The Kirkland team was led by restructuring partners Marlene Ruf and Leo Plank and included transactional partner Achim Herfs, debt finance partners Wolfgang Nardi and Alexander Längsfeld, tax partners Michael Ehret and Daniel Hiemer, as well as restructuring associates Ann-Kathrin Ziegler, Johannes Lappe, Paul Päfgen and Nino Goglidze, transactional associate Siegfried Büttner, debt finance associate Fabrice Hipp and tax associate David Linnemann.

Jul 21

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis has bolstered its European corporate practice with the hire of Sebastian Heim, who joins as partner across its Munich and London offices. Heim, a Milbank London partner, has advised on deals including Carlyle’s €7.7 billion ($8.9 billion) acquisition of BASF’s coating business and General Atlantic’s $5.7 billion public offering of SMG Swiss Marketing Group, at the time the largest European IPO of the year. Heim joined Milbank in 2011 as an associate, according to his LinkedIn. “Sebastian is one of the go-to private equity lawyers in Germany,” said Jon A. Ballis, chairman of Kirkland’s executive committee. Heim’s regularly advises clients on corporate law, M&A, and growth equity matters. “Sebastian is an extraordinary lawyer with a stellar reputation,” said Benjamin Leyendecker, a corporate partner in Kirkland’s Munich office. The move comes just 18 months after Kirkland opened its Frankfurt office in August 2024. The hub cooperates closely with Kirkland's Munich office, which has been described by Leyendecker as “key pillar of our strategy”. Heim is joining the Munich office, which has 17 partners listed on Kirkland’s website. Kirkland saw record lateral hires and partner promotions globally in 2025 alongside seven lateral hires in Germany since opening in Frankfurt. Kirkland’s German partners have also been in demand elsewhere, however, with former restructuring partner Leo Plank moving to Gibson Dunn in February. Milbank has been contacted for comment.

Mar 3

1 min

Kirkland advised funds advised by Centerbridge Partners, L.P., a leading private investment management firm with extensive experience in supporting growth opportunities in the financial services sector, on its majority equity investment in Syncapay, Inc., a holding company for payment technology and solutions companies, including daVinci Payments. In connection with Centerbridge Partners' equity investment, daVinci Payments will combine with North Lane Technologies, formerly Wirecard North America Inc., to establish a high-growth, premier payment company with innovative technology and solutions. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed. Read the companies' press release The Kirkland team was led by transactional partner Maggie Flores and included corporate partners Peter Martelli, Ben Leyendecker and Robert Pohlus and associate Jonathan Dhanawade, debt finance partners Wolfganf Nardi, Judson Oswald and Kristen Smith and restructuring associate Ann-Kathrin Ziegler, and tax partners Mike Beinus and Polina Liberman.

Oct 22

1 min