February 3, 2022
New York, NY, February 3, 2022 --- Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP today announced that Ray LaSoya has joined the Firm as a partner in the Corporate & Financial Services Department, where he will be part of Willkie’s market-leading Private Equity Practice Group. Ray, who was previously a partner at Cooley LLP, is based in Willkie’s Los Angeles office. Today’s announcement brings the total number of partners in Willkie’s Los Angeles office to 16.
“Ray is an extremely talented and well-established practitioner in the market, and expands our market-leading private equity presence to Los Angeles,” said Jeffrey Poss, Co-Chair of the Private Equity Practice Group. “His longstanding sponsor relationships and vast experience across all facets of private equity deals and industries are a perfect fit for us.”
Ray has diverse experience guiding private equity investors and their portfolio companies, as well as public and private companies, in complex transactions across a range of industries and in their day-to-day legal affairs. He is sought out to advise on an array of major corporate transactions, including acquisitions and divestitures, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, minority growth investments, strategic alliances and joint ventures. He has decades of experience representing top private equity sponsors across a vast range of industries, including communications, media, entertainment, technology, retail, legal services, financial services, manufacturing and more.
Alex Weingarten, Managing Partner of Willkie’s Los Angeles office, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Ray to our growing LA team. The office now comprises more than 50 lawyers, and Ray will be an integral member of the team as we continue to deepen the capabilities we offer to clients, especially at the nexus of private equity and entertainment.”
Ray commented: “I am excited to be a part of Willkie’s world-class private equity practice and its dynamic team in Los Angeles. Willkie is known globally for helming some of the industry’s most complex and transformative transactions, and this opportunity provides me with the ideal platform for the next stage of my practice.”
Willkie has developed a 360° platform to provide comprehensive advice to private equity sponsors and portfolio companies, advising on everything from fund formations, platform acquisitions, tuck-in acquisitions and joint ventures, to bank credit and other debt financings, IPOs, follow-on offerings, SPACs, PIPEs and ultimate exits. Because of this approach, clients regularly grow with Willkie over time. Our Private Equity Practice Group handles transactions and cross-border matters worldwide, with attorneys practicing in 13 key market centers across the United States and Europe.
Launched in September 2021, Willkie’s Los Angeles office now includes more than 50 attorneys in the areas of corporate and M&A transactions, private equity, music and entertainment, asset management, private wealth, litigation, and tax.
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Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is an international law firm of approximately 1,000 attorneys with offices in Brussels, Chicago, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Palo Alto, Paris, Rome, San Francisco and Washington. The Firm is headquartered in New York City at 787 Seventh Avenue.
