Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom London funds partner Stephen Sims has retired from the firm.

Sims, who was head of the U.S. firm's European investment management group, joined Skadden in 2011 from Macfarlanes to launch its investment management practice.

A spokesperson for the firm confirmed that Sims retired at the end of June. Two former colleagues said they thought he was in his late 40s. Sims was not available for comment.

He advised fund managers and investors on the structuring, establishment and operation of investment funds.

Notable deals for Sims during his career included advising LetterOne Technology in its $16 billion private equity fund-style investment programme, and acting for asset manager BlackRock on its acquisition of Credit Suisse's exchange traded funds business.

Last February, he was part of a team advising on the £3.24 billion sale ($4 billion) of Standard Life Aberdeen's insurance business to FTSE 250 insurer Phoenix Group.

He also advised Abraaj, the biggest buyout fund in the Middle East and Africa prior to its collapse last year, on the sale of its Latin American funds management business to U.S. investment management firm Colony Capital.

He joined Macfarlanes in 2002 from now-defunct firm SJ Berwin, where he had been an associate for five years, and made partner in 2006.