Sidley Austin has made five lateral hires in the U.S. and the U.K. as the firm looks to grow key practice areas in the run-up to 2018.

The Am Law 100 firm’s London office brought on Wim De Vlieger and Till Lefranc from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as partners this week to help build out its private equity offerings in Europe. In Boston, where Sidley opened an office in 2013, the firm landed Latham & Watkins private equity partners William Schwab and Alexander Temel.