Stephenson Harwood has boosted its China practice with the hire of a corporate partner from Oldham Lie & Nie.

Richard Grams joined the Hong Kong office of Stephenson Harwood & Lo – the joint venture the top 50 UK firm operates with local practice Lo & Lo – towards the end of last year.

Grams, who previously headed up Oldham's China group, is to relocate to Stephenson Harwood & Lo's office in Guangzhou at the end of the month and will also oversee its Shanghai operation.

Grams specialises in foreign direct investment, private equity-funded acquisitions and overseas listings. His recent deals include advising a Chinese telecommunications company on its $300m (£156m) joint initial public offering on NASDAQ and the Hong Kong Growth Enterprise Market.

The hire comes after Stephenson Harwood highlighted its China group as a key area for investment in the coming months.

Stephenson Harwood & Lo managing partner John Gale commented: "Richard joins us with extensive experience in Guangdong and he will be developing work in China, as well as servicing clients in China and elsewhere [which] are looking for fund-raisings on the Alternative Investment Market or the Hong Kong Exchange."