Hogan Lovells' London office has won News Corporation as a client as a result of the firm's transatlantic merger, which went live in May 2010.

The media conglomerate, which owns The Sun, The Times and News of the World, has had a longstanding relationship with legacy Hogan & Hartson in the US; however, the firm has extended this relationship to Hogan Lovells in Europe since the merger.

A number of practices across the firm's London office are expected to work with News Corp. City-based antitrust partner John Pheasant – who was previously a partner with legacy Lovells before joining legacy Hogan – advised News Corp on competition aspects of its multibillion-pound bid for UK media company BSkyB last year.

Meanwhile, in December last year Hogan Lovells advised News Corp on the sale of its German subsidiary Fox Mobile Group to Jesta Group.

News Corp is one of several longstanding clients in legacy Hogan's practice that the combined firm is targeting for work in the UK and Europe. The merged entity is also understood to be pitching to IBM and KPMG, both of which the US firm worked with pre-merger.

Meanwhile, a number of legacy Lovells clients such as Prudential have also become clients of the merged firm.

The addition of News Corp to its client roster coincides with Hogan Lovells' plans to expand its corporate practice in London. The firm recently confirmed its intention to offer marquee lateral hires above-lockstep pay deals.