Fried Frank’s Finance Practice Leader Jumps to Skadden in NYC

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has hired the head of Fried Frank’s global finance practice, as it looks to further expand its banking practice.

J. Christian Nahr is joining Skadden as a partner in its banking group in New York, the firm announced Monday.

Nahr, a longtime Fried Frank partner, advises private equity sponsors, corporations, hedge funds, and investment banks in complex cross-border and domestic financing transactions.

Skadden is looking to enhance its global sponsor finance practice, Seth Jacobson, global head of Skadden’s banking group, said in an interview.
Nahr “brings a wealth of experience” as well as great relationships with sponsor clients, Jacobson said.

Nahr led the Fried Frank team that advised Transcendia Holdings, Inc. on a May recapitalization that included an infusion of $114 million in new equity capital and elimination of over $200 million in funded debt obligations. He also was part of the team that advised Sterling Check Corp. on its February sale to First Advantage Corp. in a deal valued at $2.2 billion and Broadcast Music Inc.’s sale to a shareholder group led by New Mountain Capital that closed earlier this year.

“Chris is one of the most prominent and highly regarded practitioners in his field, and he is joining us at an exciting time of strategic growth,” said Jeremy London, Skadden’s executive partner, in a statement. Nahr has “handled the financing aspects of some of the most significant transactions of the past decade,” London said.

Competition for talent across the nation’s top law firms has been ratcheting up. David Hepp, co-head of Skadden’s financial institutions group and leader of its asset management transactions practice, last month joined Paul Weiss Rikfind Wharton & Garrison along with partner Matthew Collin. Skadden picked up SoFi general counsel Adam Cohen and former co-leader of Shearman & Sterling’s fintech initiative Mark Chorazak in May.

Skadden has been focusing on enhancing its capabilities in sponsored finance, citing increased demand for services that tracks an uptick in M&A, Jacobson said. The firm brought on Sebastian FitzGerald from Willkie Farr & Gallagher in London last December.

Skadden was Big Law’s top M&A dealmaker over the first half of 2024, advising on $212.5 billion worth of deals, according to Bloomberg data.

“We see, for various reasons, increased M&A activity in both strategic and sponsor finance,” Jacobson said. “Because we see that increasing demand in the future, this is really an excellent time to add somebody like Chris and lay the groundwork for our growing group,” he said.

“Skadden is a global powerhouse at the top of its game, and I look forward to providing guidance on all aspects of debt finance to the firm’s clients around the world,” Nahr said in a statement.