Mayer Brown has sealed a merger deal in Paris that will gift the firm a seven-lawyer litigation and arbitration team in the French capital.

The firm's Paris office has completed a tie-up with boutique Ayela Semerdjian & Associes, which is led by Christophe Ayela and Renaud Semerdjian, who both join Mayer Brown as partners.

Two counsel and three associates will also join Mayer Brown. The hires take the number of lawyers in the firm's Paris dispute resolution practice to 12.

The firm said the merger came in response to its strategy to focus on M&A and boost its capability to handle all related crisis situations.

In total, the Paris office now has 77 lawyers, including 17 partners.

Mayer Brown Paris managing partner Jean-Philippe Lambert said: "The synergy, common values and the entrepreneurial approach of the new team is a significant asset in achieving the success of this combination."

Semerdjian added: "We were at a strategic crossroads of our expansion process. We have met a complementary team that shares our values and whose technical knowhow is highly regarded. That is why we chose to join Mayer Brown, with the double intention of accelerating our expansion process and meeting our clients' needs effectively."

Mayer Brown first launched in Paris through a merger in 1999, when the Chicago-based firm officially combined with Lambert & Lee after a four-year non-exclusive referral relationship.

Mayer Brown on the Legal Week Wiki