Private Equity GC Joins Paul, Weiss in London

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP announced today that David Holdsworth will join the firm in London as a partner in the Private Equity Group within the Corporate Department. Holdsworth is currently partner and general counsel at TDR Capital, a leading private investment firm with over €15 billion of assets under management, and was previously a senior corporate partner in private practice with deep experience in private equity and public M&A.

“We are pleased to welcome David, an accomplished private equity and public M&A lawyer who has extensive experience both in private practice and as a general counsel at a leading European private equity firm,” said Paul, Weiss Chairman Brad S. Karp. “David will be an excellent counselor to our private equity clients on their most complex transactions in the UK and Europe.”

“David is an exceptional lawyer, and I am delighted to once again have him as my partner,” said Roger Johnson, global co-chair of the M&A practice and co-head of the London office. “Over the past two decades, David has advised some of the most sophisticated global private equity firms on major M&A matters, and he will be a fantastic addition to our team.”

Holdsworth was a long-standing adviser to London-based TDR Capital, having advised them for over 16 years before he joined as partner and general counsel in January 2023.

“We are very grateful for David’s contribution over the past couple of years, both in professionalizing our legal function and overseeing a record number of transactions,” said Blair Thompson, partner and chief operating officer at TDR Capital. “David was previously a key trusted adviser to the firm and he will slot right back into that role. He will continue to be a key member of the broader team and we look forward to working with him and the impressive team at Paul, Weiss going forward.”  

Prior to joining TDR Capital, Holdsworth spent more than two decades at global law firms, where he focused on complex private equity and sponsor take-privates. In the five years prior to joining TDR Capital, he advised sponsors and/or their portfolio companies on more sponsor take-privates than any other partner in the London market. Those sponsor take-privates included transactions for Blackstone, Thoma Bravo, TDR Capital, I Squared Capital, Advent International, TA Associates and Flexpoint Ford.

“I have known many of Paul, Weiss’s London partners for years and was hugely impressed when working with them recently on our acquisition of Acqua & Sapone. I am excited to join the incredible platform they are building,” Holdsworth said.

Holdsworth has been recognized as a leading lawyer in Chambers UK and as “Highly Regarded” by IFLR1000. He earned an LL.B. from the University of Edinburgh, and is admitted to practice in England and Wales.

The Paul, Weiss Mergers & Acquisitions Practice works with leading private equity firms and many of the world’s largest, most prominent publicly traded and privately held companies, as well as financial advisors and other financial institutions and investors, on the full range of business-critical transactions. The firm’s Private Equity Group, in particular, represents private equity firms across a wide spectrum of investment strategies.