Davis Polk & Wardwell has moved to strengthen its Paris office with the hires of US rival Shearman & Sterling's local corporate and antitrust practices.

Corporate partner Jacques Naquet-Radiguet, who was also the deputy managing partner of Shearman's Paris office, joined Davis Polk as a partner on Monday (16 May), after leaving Shearman last week.

Meanwhile Shearman's Paris antitrust head Jean-Mathieu Cot is set to join Davis Polk in the coming weeks as a counsel, the same position he holds at Shearman.

Naquet-Radiguet, who specialises in domestic and cross-border public and private mergers, joint ventures and private equity transactions, joined Shearman's New York office in 1995, transferring to Paris in 1997. He has worked with clients including Starwood Capital subsidiary Societe du Louvre, Rhodia and Deutsche Bank.

Cot advises companies on French and European competition law aspects of international mergers and acquisitions. He has also represented companies before the French Competition Council and the Paris Court of Appeals.

Davis Polk managing partner Thomas Reid commented: "The addition of Jacques, who is among the finest M&A lawyers in Paris, extends the experience and capabilities of our French M&A practice, which has become established in recent years as a leading player at the highest end of the French market.

"His personal leadership of some of the most significant mergers and acquisitions involving French companies makes him ideally suited to join the Davis Polk team as we position ourselves for the largest and most complex M&A transactions in France."

Shearman corporate partner Sami Toutounji will replace Naquet-Radiguet as corporate head and as the deputy managing partner of the Paris office, a position he will share with public international law head Yas Banifatemi.