Weil Gotshal & Manges has enhanced its banking and finance practice in London with a new partner hire from Latham & Watkins.
Reena Gogna focuses on banking, finance and restructuring matters in addition to acting on debt issues and high yield matters. She acts for both lenders, issuers and sponsors. She joins a team led by new London banking head Mark Donald.
Recent examples of her work include acting for Mersin International Port in relation to the $450 million project debt refinancing for a joint venture between Turkey’s Akfen Holding and Singapore’s PSA International; and Deutsche Bank on the $9.2 billion restructuring of Eurotunnel.
The news comes a week after the firm was hit by the departure of former banking head Stephen Lucas to Kirkland & Ellis. Gogna is herself the second addition the firm has made to its finance outfit in 2014 following the hire of Chris McLaughlin from Hogan Lovells.
Mike Francies, Weil's London managing partner, highlighted the hire as proof of the firm's ambitions, in a week when a question mark may have been raised following Lucas's departure: "Her (Gogna's) experience acting for lenders and sponsors is a perfect fit with our growing Finance practice, which has some of the best leveraged finance, high yield and structured finance partners in the London market. In the last week alone we have received instructions on a number of new matters reflecting the strength of the team and the depth of the partner bench."