Pinsent Masons has strengthened its international projects team with the hire of Ashurst head of transport Raymond Beven.

Beven, who will join the national law firm as a partner in its London office later this month, will lead Pinsents' transport team, which sits within the projects and international construction group.

Ashurst currently has no plans to replace Beven, who has been a partner with the City firm since 2001, as head of transport.

During his time at Ashurst, Beven acted on a number of large projects including the London Underground public-private partnership, Crossrail, the DLR extension and Croydon Tramlink.

International projects he has worked on include rail privatisations in Africa and Australia, restructurings in Eastern Europe and the $680m (£419m) 25-year concession to expand the Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan – a project on which Pinsents also advised.

Pinsents managing partner David Ryan (pictured) said: "[Beven] is consistently cited as a leader in his field in independent legal directories, not only for his expertise, but also for his approachable manner. He will be a great asset to the team."

Beven added: "I am looking forward to continuing and strengthening the excellent work undertaken by Pinsents in transport projects. This is really a firm on the move, and I am excited by the prospects ahead for the transport team and its clients."

News of Beven's departure comes after it emerged last week (26 August) that Ashurst's head of restructuring, Nick Angel, is set to join the London arm of New York's Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy.

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