Key Takeaways
- • Clifford Chance has created a new global chair of private equity role, filled by current global head Jonny Myers, while Spencer Baylin moves into the global head of private equity position.
- • The firm is scrapping Baylin's former title of London head of private capital, a change that signals a shift from a London-centric structure to a global one, according to a person familiar with the matter.
- • Baylin led the team advising EQT on its $2 billion acquisition of a majority stake in insurance broker McGill & Partners from Warburg Pincus earlier in 2026.
- • Clifford Chance is positioning itself as a specialist in global, transatlantic and pan-European transactions rather than competing with U.S. firms on domestic deal volume.
Summary
Clifford Chance has refreshed its private equity leadership structure in an effort to highlight its presence on the global private equity stage, Law.com reported on October 8, 2026. Under the changes, current global head of private equity Jonny Myers will become the firm's newly created global chair of private equity. Spencer Baylin will take over as global head of private equity, and the firm is retiring his previous title of London head of private capital, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The source said the restructuring is meant to reflect the global scope of the firm's PE work, which spans the U.K., Europe, Asia-Pacific and the U.S. Baylin's team includes partners based in London and elsewhere, including Shimin Lee, who is based in London and Singapore, and Vince Ferrito in New York.
Under Baylin and Myers, the firm has maintained panel positions in top-tier private equity work. It sits on the panel of European private equity firm EQT alongside Freshfields, Ropes & Gray and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and on the panel of Partners Group alongside Latham & Watkins and Ropes. Earlier this year, Baylin led the team advising EQT on its acquisition of a majority stake in insurance broker McGill & Partners from Warburg Pincus for $2 billion.
The reorganization is part of a broader effort to recast the firm's private equity practice as an integrated private capital platform. Rather than trying to match U.S. firms on purely domestic deal volume, Clifford Chance is seeking to establish itself as a specialist in global, transatlantic and pan-European transactions.
The source said the restructuring is meant to reflect the global scope of the firm's PE work, which spans the U.K., Europe, Asia-Pacific and the U.S. Baylin's team includes partners based in London and elsewhere, including Shimin Lee, who is based in London and Singapore, and Vince Ferrito in New York.
Under Baylin and Myers, the firm has maintained panel positions in top-tier private equity work. It sits on the panel of European private equity firm EQT alongside Freshfields, Ropes & Gray and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and on the panel of Partners Group alongside Latham & Watkins and Ropes. Earlier this year, Baylin led the team advising EQT on its acquisition of a majority stake in insurance broker McGill & Partners from Warburg Pincus for $2 billion.
The reorganization is part of a broader effort to recast the firm's private equity practice as an integrated private capital platform. Rather than trying to match U.S. firms on purely domestic deal volume, Clifford Chance is seeking to establish itself as a specialist in global, transatlantic and pan-European transactions.
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