While the hire of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acquisition finance partner David Ereira raised a few eyebrows, last week's news that Clifford Chance (CC) rising star Ian Bagshaw is to help rebuild Linklaters' buy-out team leaves little doubt that Silk Street is serious about bulking up in private equity.

So just how significant is the hire? Well, despite being tipped for great things at CC, no-one would yet bracket Bagshaw alongside heavyweights like Ashurst's Charlie Geffen or fellow CC partner Matthew Layton.

But while big clients of Geffen (Cinven) and Layton (Permira) are far from dormant, they are not quite giving the pair the kind of profile they used to enjoy. Conversely, Bagshaw's key clients – Blackstone and Australian infra house Macquarie – are two of the hottest institutions of the day, both in the UK and abroad. Bagshaw also has a wide and rather enviable set of client relationships, including Candover, CVC and Duke Street.