Gibson Dunn & Crutcher global co-head of finance Stephen Gillespie has left the firm's City office to join private equity house LetterOne as general counsel.

Gillespie, who will join the Luxembourg headquartered international investment business tomorrow (6 February), leaves the US firm's London office after just over three years.

He joined Gibson Dunn from Kirkland & Ellis in 2014 as part of the former firm's push into transactional finance and corporate work. He had previously spent eight years in Kirkland's European debt finance practice, and before that served as global co-head of banking at Allen  Overy.

At the time of his hire, he joined a run of high-profile additions for Gibson Dunn in London including former Ashurst partners Nigel Stacey, Jonathan Earle and Mark Sperotto, who made the move with former Ashurst senior partner – and London co-head – Charlie Geffen.

More recent additions in the City include Serious Fraud Office (SFO) prosecutor and case controller Sacha Harber-Kelly, and two partners from US rival Mayer Brown's London office, including Mayer Brown's global co-head of corporate and securities Jeremy Kenley.

Earlier this year, London co-chair Charlie Geffen told Legal Week that the firm was still in growth mode in Europe, highlighting financial regulatory and competition as areas it wants to invest in in London.