Key Takeaways
- • Ropes & Gray hired private equity partner Fabrizio Scaparro and counsel Paola Pagani from Italian firm Giovannelli e Associati to bolster its Milan office, launched in September 2025, strengthening the firm's transactional capability across Italy and Europe.
- • The Milan office has added multiple partners in 2026, including Alessandro Capogrosso (capital markets, private equity, and M&A), Giorgia Lugli, Luca Maranetto, and Cataldo Piccarreta, expanding the private equity practice to 16 partners across London, Paris, and Milan combined.
- • Scaparro brings recognized expertise in complex cross-border M&A, leveraged buyouts, and multi-jurisdictional transactions across healthcare, technology, consumer, and industrial sectors, with a track record advising financial sponsors and multinational corporations.
- • Ropes & Gray has hired nine European partners in 2026 across its Milan, Paris, and London offices as part of an aggressive platform expansion to support clients pursuing cross-border investment strategies.
- • The firm's European private capital build-out includes earlier 2026 additions of partners Paul Dali and Lavinia (surnames incomplete in sources), plus a ten-strong tax team from Linklaters and an eight-lawyer lateral move from Latham in Paris.
Summary
Ropes & Gray has significantly expanded its European private capital platform with the hire of Fabrizio Scaparro, a leading private equity and M&A partner, and Paola Pagani, an experienced private equity counsel, both joining from top Italian law firm Giovannelli e Associati. The additions come six months after the firm launched its Milan office in September 2025 with a three-partner team from Latham, signaling an intensified commitment to building transactional depth in Italy and across Europe.
Scaparro, who was a founding partner at Giovannelli e Associati, brings significant expertise advising financial sponsors and multinational corporations on complex domestic and cross-border M&A, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures, and minority investments across multiple sectors including healthcare and life sciences, technology, business services, consumer, chemical, food, and industrial. Pagani complements this capability with experience in corporate matters and cross-border transactions. According to Ropes & Gray Chair Julie Jones, "Fabrizio's and Paola's proven skill in navigating complex, multi-jurisdictional deals enhances our ability to seamlessly support clients as they capture new opportunities in Italy, across Europe and around the world."
The Milan hires are part of a broader European hiring blitz in 2026. The firm has added nine partners across its European offices this year, bringing the total partner count in the private equity practice across London, Paris, and Milan to 16. Additional Milan hires announced include Alessandro Capogrosso, a capital markets and private equity partner with experience in IPOs, tender offers, and leveraged buyouts; Giorgia Lugli and Luca Maranetto, private equity-focused partners; and Cataldo Piccarreta, co-lead of European Private Equity Transactions. The Paris office, which opened in March 2025, has been particularly active, adding a ten-strong tax team from Linklaters and conducting an eight-lawyer lateral raid from Latham alongside three initial private capital specialists from Clifford Chance.
Firm leadership has positioned the Milan expansion as a direct response to rising client demand for cross-border support in Italy and broader investment in markets central to clients' global deal activity. The strategy reflects Ropes & Gray's prioritization of building out European transactional capabilities to support ambitious investment strategies in a fast-changing environment across multiple jurisdictions.
Scaparro, who was a founding partner at Giovannelli e Associati, brings significant expertise advising financial sponsors and multinational corporations on complex domestic and cross-border M&A, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures, and minority investments across multiple sectors including healthcare and life sciences, technology, business services, consumer, chemical, food, and industrial. Pagani complements this capability with experience in corporate matters and cross-border transactions. According to Ropes & Gray Chair Julie Jones, "Fabrizio's and Paola's proven skill in navigating complex, multi-jurisdictional deals enhances our ability to seamlessly support clients as they capture new opportunities in Italy, across Europe and around the world."
The Milan hires are part of a broader European hiring blitz in 2026. The firm has added nine partners across its European offices this year, bringing the total partner count in the private equity practice across London, Paris, and Milan to 16. Additional Milan hires announced include Alessandro Capogrosso, a capital markets and private equity partner with experience in IPOs, tender offers, and leveraged buyouts; Giorgia Lugli and Luca Maranetto, private equity-focused partners; and Cataldo Piccarreta, co-lead of European Private Equity Transactions. The Paris office, which opened in March 2025, has been particularly active, adding a ten-strong tax team from Linklaters and conducting an eight-lawyer lateral raid from Latham alongside three initial private capital specialists from Clifford Chance.
Firm leadership has positioned the Milan expansion as a direct response to rising client demand for cross-border support in Italy and broader investment in markets central to clients' global deal activity. The strategy reflects Ropes & Gray's prioritization of building out European transactional capabilities to support ambitious investment strategies in a fast-changing environment across multiple jurisdictions.
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