Two Linklaters competition partners have left the firm's Stockholm and Hong Kong offices to set up their own boutique in Sweden.

The new boutique, launched by Stockholm partner Kent Karlsson and Hong Kong partner Erik Soederlind, went live yesterday (1 November) under the name Kastell.

Both partners joined Linklaters' Swedish competition practice in 2001 through its merger with local firm Lagerloef & Leman. Soederlind later relocated to the firm's Hong Kong office in 2008 to become head of competition and antitrust in Asia – a position he held at the time of his departure.

Soederlind told Legal Week: "When I decided to come back from Hong Kong for family reasons I did not want to return to the firm's Swedish office because I wanted to do something new. Kent and I had discussed the possibility of setting up our own firm over the years and now seemed like the perfect time to make the move.

"It is always difficult to negotiate a fairly small local market with the overall international practice of a global firm."

Karlsson's departure leaves Linklaters' Stockholm base with a total of eight partners.

The office has seen a number of partners leave over the past two years, with M&A partner Martin Boerresen the most recent to depart when he joined Ashurst in May this year.