LONDON (January 20, 2026)—Sullivan & Cromwell LLP announced today that Christopher McLaughlin and Alastair McVeigh will join the firm as partners in its London office. Mr. McLaughlin will lead S&C’s private equity sponsor and borrower acquisition, and leveraged finance practices in London. Mr. McVeigh will lead S&C’s European private credit offering, including direct and specialty lending. Together, this reflects S&C’s continued focus on expanding its private capital capabilities in London at scale, strengthening the firm’s ability to advise across the full range of private capital transactions.
“The addition of Chris and Alastair represents a significant step in our strategic expansion in London,” said Robert Giuffra and Scott Miller, Co-Chairs of Sullivan & Cromwell. “We’re delighted that lawyers of their caliber and experience will be joining S&C. They will allow us to provide the highest levels of expertise and client service for private equity sponsors, lenders and providers of private credit across the UK and Europe.”
Mr. McLaughlin is one of Europe’s leading acquisition and leveraged finance lawyers. He has extensive experience advising both private equity sponsors and providers of private credit on acquisitions and leveraged finance transactions. Mr. McLaughlin is ranked by Chambers UK as a Leading Individual for Leveraged Finance, recognized by Legal 500 as a “Leading Partner” for Acquisition Finance and ranked as a “Market Leader” for Banking by IFLR1000.
A highly respected lawyer in the European private credit market, Mr. McVeigh advises clients on a broad range of leveraged finance transactions. He has particular expertise in private credit, with a focus on direct and specialty lending. His experience also includes large-scale restructurings. Mr. McVeigh is a Leading Individual for Leveraged Finance in Chambers UK, “Next Generation Partner” in Legal 500 UK for Acquisition Finance and ranked as a Notable Practitioner for Banking in IFLR 1000.
London Co-Managing Partners Kon Asimacopoulos and John Horsfield-Bradbury added: “The arrival of Chris and Alastair to S&C is a major step in the execution of our private capital strategy in London. They are top-tier lawyers across private equity acquisition and leveraged finance, private credit, direct and specialty lending. Together, they will play a key role in the growth of our finance offering in Europe. Their experience and approach align closely with our firm’s global platform and our market-leading U.S. finance practice.”
About S&C’s Private Equity Practice
Sullivan & Cromwell’s Private Equity Practice represents many of the world’s leading financial sponsors and private capital investors on challenging and complex transactions globally, and has acted for a number of them for decades. The practice maximizes the impact of the firm’s deep expertise and multidisciplinary approach to find novel solutions and deliver on the highest value transactions – as demonstrated by having the largest average deal size ($2.3 billion) for completed European private equity transactions in 2024 according to Mergermarket.
About S&C’s Private Credit Practice
Sullivan & Cromwell’s Private Credit Practice delivers exceptional results for private debt capital providers and investors. Our lawyers have deep market knowledge and understanding of credit products and transaction structures. Unlike most firms, partners in the private credit practice work across the full range of debt products, including unitranche facilities, senior secured revolving and term loan facilities, secured and unsecured holdco facilities, revenue participation facilities, asset-backed loans and preferred share transactions. We work on private credit transactions across the credit spectrum, with specialized expertise in specialty lending and distressed situations.
About Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is a leading global law firm that advises on major domestic and cross-border M&A, significant litigation and corporate investigations, finance and corporate transactions, and complex antitrust, regulatory, tax and estate planning matters. Our firm’s hallmarks are the highest-quality independent advice and intense dedication to solving client problems. Founded in 1879, S&C has more than 1,000 lawyers located in offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Palo Alto, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, Melbourne and Sydney.
