O’Melveny adds PE fund finance partner in California

Private equity finance specialist Ike Chidi has joined O’Melveny & Myers’ Century City, California, office as a corporate finance partner.

Chidi joins from McDermott Will & Emery, where he was a partner in the Los Angeles office and focused on commercial lending and financial services matters, representing private equity firms, as well as companies and banks.

In moving to O’Melveny, Chidi said he was looking to join a private equity team that was well-established in southern California.

“There’s been an explosion of funds in LA and southern California, so there is a lot of opportunity, particularly in the middle-market space. I’m here to help bolster the bench at O’Melveny and help meet the fund finance needs for private equity funds, private debt funds and banks,” Chidi said.

Chidi’s hiring advances O’Melveny’s goal to build its middle-market private equity practice, not only in southern California but across the country, noted M&A partner David Smith, who will be working closely with Chidi.

Smith said that O’Melveny’s corporate mergers and acquisitions group has been expanding in recent years.

“Leveraged finance is a big focus of the middle market private equity transactional space and you need people like Ike who are experienced in working with middle market private equity funds and middle market lenders. You need someone who is aware of market terms and industry expectations in order to provide the necessary resources to service client demands, and Ike definitely fits that profile,” Smith explained.

Chidi has advised private equity firms and lending institutions, as well as other private and public companies, in structuring, negotiating and documenting financing transactions, including syndicated credit facilities, asset-based loans, acquisition financings, recapitalizations, senior subordinated debt and mezzanine financings, along with other commercial lending transactions.