Stephenson Harwood City corporate partner Jonathan Pittal has closed his first deal at the firm, after joining from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) earlier this year.

Pittal, the former co-head of private equity at KWM, led a Stephenson Harwood team advising on the sale of private equity-owned Autodata to Solera Holdings for £340m.

Autodata is a UK-based publishing company that specialises in car manuals, while Solera is a US automotive data company. The deal closed at the end of January.

The team, which represented London-based Bowmark Capital and Rothschild Group-backed Five Arrows Principal Investments, also included London-based banking head James Linforth.

The two private equity companies, which acquired Autodata in 2014, are new clients for Stephenson Harwood.

Kirkland & Ellis advised Solera, while Cooley acted for Autodata's management team and Hogan Lovells advised the lender bank.

Pittal said: "We are pleased to continue our longstanding relationship with Bowmark Capital, as well as Five Arrows Principal Investments. Advising on this transaction was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the depth and qualify of our private equity offering."

Pittal joined Stephenson Harwood's corporate team last month, alongside two former KWM colleagues – City corporate finance partner Warren Allan and London private equity partner Gabriel Boghossian. They also took one trainee, now admitted as a solicitor, and two associates with them.

Other clients the trio have advised include Lloyds Banking Group, Unicredit Bank, Risk Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs Vintage Fund, SL Capital Partners and Pantheon Ventures.

Pittal was one of the four senior London partners who resigned from KWM in October, prompting the firm's European arm to halt a planned £14m recapitalisation programme. He quit along with UK investments funds head Michael Halford, corporate partner Andrew Wingfield and former managing partner Rob Day.

Day and Wingfield subsequently joined Proskauer Rose in late 2016, while Halford joined Goodwin Procter in January alongside four other funds partners.