Norton Rose has bulked up its Singapore arm with the hire of Ashurst energy partner Ashley Wright to lead the firm's Asia-Pacific oil and gas team.

Wright (pictured) is set to join Norton Rose in the New Year from the Singapore office of Ashurst, which he joined as a partner in 2007 from Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy.

He specialises in energy and project finance deals advising sponsors, lenders, projects companies and contractors in the oil, gas, liquefied natural gas, power and petrochemicals sectors.

His hire takes the number of partners in Norton Rose's Singapore base to 17.

Norton Rose Singapore head Jeff Smith said: "Ashley is very much a part of our headlights strategy, which we are pioneering globally, and includes the energy sector.

"He will have a particular focus on Indonesia, which is a very important market for us, and where he holds a lot of experience. We will continue to look for opportunities to invest in our headlight sectors and I anticipate further growth over the next 12 months."

The news comes as Norton Rose prepares to launch in Canada and South Africa through mergers with Canadian law firm Ogilvy Renault and leading South African firm Deneys Reitz.

The mergers, which will go live on 1 June 2011, which will take headcount at the combined firm to more than 2,500 fee earners across 38 offices around the world.

They follow the firm's union with Australia's Deacons, which went live at the beginning of 2010 and significantly increased Norton Rose's presence across Asia Pacific.