London, Madrid – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has appointed José A. Sanchez Dafos as partner in its corporate practice in Madrid. As a skilled adviser in M&A and private equity transactions, he will play a key role in the
organisation’s plans to expand its corporate finance practice, and in
particular to consolidate and expand its first-class private equity
expertise in Spain. He joined on 17 January.
José brings over eight years experience of advising on corporate
transactions having worked at Clifford Chance in Madrid and subsequently as
inhouse counsel at Terra Lycos, Telefónica’s internet service provider. He
joins from Allen & Overy where, as senior associate, he led numerous M&A
deals successfully, including major private equity transactions.
DLA Piper has built up extensive capability in European mid-market private
equity. The organisation advised on over 35 transactions in 2004 and was
ranked third by volume of deals in the European Private Equity league table
in the period July 2003 to July 2004 by mergermarket. José A. Sanchez Dafos
will work closely with Kenneth Bonavia, DLA Piper’s Managing Partner for
Spain, Alastair Da Costa, Joint Group Head for Corporate and Finance, and
other partners, to build up the private equity service in Spain.
José will also contribute expertise to DLA Piper’s Technology, Media &
Communications (TMC) practice, having advised on IP, internet and data
protection-related matters in his previous roles.
José A. Sanchez Dafos commented on his appointment:
“Joining DLA Piper is a great opportunity for me to take a leading role in
developing part of the corporate practice. The organisation’s rapid global
expansion, dynamic management and its positioning in the Spanish market
means it will be an exciting place to work.”
Kenneth Bonavia, Managing Partner of the Spanish practice of DLA Piper
Rudnick Gray Cary, added, “The mid-sized private equity market is set to
continue growing in Spain in the next few years. We are building a truly
pan-European capability to meet clients’ legal needs both in private equity
and wider corporate matters and José ‘s appointment is a key part of this.
With his technical ability, commercial experience, plus his energy and
drive, he will bring significant new capabilities to our corporate
practice.”
This appointment follows closely that of Antonio Creus, who joined in
December as partner and head of DLA Piper’s competition and regulatory group
in Madrid.
