Reed Smith has boosted its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) corporate practice with the hire of partner Samantha Roberts from Holman Fenwick Willan.

At Holman, where she spent over 13 years, Roberts was a partner in the corporate, projects and finance department and headed up the firm's ports and terminals industry focus group. Her practice focuses on UK and cross-border M&A and joint venture arrangements.

She spent several years in the firm's Singapore offices and has worked on a range of international projects in jurisdictions including Nigeria, South Africa, Bahrain, Costa Rica, India, Brazil and China.

Roberts will join Reed Smith's London office next week (20 September).

EMEA head of corporate James Wilkinson (pictured) commented: "The hire is very much in line with our recruitment strategy, which is based around sector strength. We have many clients, particularly in energy, trade and commodities, who are looking to consolidate their position in the market through mergers, as well as by adding infrastructure to their business. Samantha has expertise in both corporate and shipping, which is ideal for us in terms of client demand."

Roberts added: "Having worked in the shipping sector for most of my career, moving to Reed Smith will offer a great opportunity for me to grow my corporate practice."

The news comes just two weeks after a trio of Holman Fenwick partners left the firm to set up their own City marine law boutique. Partners Jonathan Campbell, Alistair Johnston and Julian Clark launched the new firm, Campbell Johnston Clark, last month (31 August).