Ashurst has boosted its Middle East energy and infrastructure practice with a hire from Linklaters and a partner relocation from London.

David Charlier, who was a counsel at Linklaters Dubai, is set to join Ashurst's Dubai office as a partner on 1 June.

He has been based in the Middle East since 2007 and specialises in the development, financing and acquisition of energy and infrastructure assets. He has worked on a number of notable transactions in the region, including advising lenders on the $10bn (£6.15bn) landmark Jubail refinery project in Saudi Arabia.

Charlier's hire comes as London infrastructure partner David Jardine, who was made up this year, prepares to relocate to the Abu Dhabi office on 12 June. Jardine's practice has a focus on railways, airports, roads, ports and social infrastructure deals.

Both appointments come after Ashurst moved to restructure its Abu Dhabi and Dubai offices around energy and infrastructure, resulting in two partners moving back to London and Dubai projects partner Joss Dare becoming Middle East head. Following the restructuring, the firm also promoted one partner in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi as part of this year's promotion round.

Dare commented: "[Charlier] will complete the team in a number of ways. He will help us consolidate our leading position in projects work generally, plus his finance expertise opens up great opportunities for us in the petrochemicals sector.

"The energy, transport and infrastructure industries are the drivers of the region and there is undeniable demand for investment across those sectors. We feel that we now have the right people in place with the right skillsets to capitalise on this."