Art auctioneers Christie's International has named former Linde legal director Nick Deeming as its new general counsel.

Deeming will be based in London and is set to take on responsibility for all Christie's legal and compliance functions as well as sitting on the board.

The news marks a high-profile appointment for Christie's, as Deeming is one of the UK's best-known general counsel.

Deeming joined legacy company BOC in 2001 and stayed on as group legal director when the company was taken over by German gas giant Linde in a £7.5bn deal last year.

After the BOC takeover Deeming led a four-month review of the company's legal advisers, appointing DLA Piper, Hengeler Mueller and Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett to Linde's first-ever formal panel.

At Christie's he will report in to Christie's chief executive, Edward Dolman.

Dolman said: "Nick has added both commercial and strategic value to the companies in which he has worked."

Previously Deeming was chief legal counsel at French IT company Sema, after a nine-year stint as group legal director at insurer PPP Healthcare Group.

He announced that he was to leave gas giant Linde in June but stayed on in a consultant role until last month. He was replaced by Johnson & Johnson assistant general counsel, Christian Rau.

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