Ropes & Gray has launched a tax and benefits practice in its fledgling London office with the hire of tax partner John Baldry from Kirkland & Ellis.

Baldry, who joined Kirkland's London office in 2006 from Weil Gotshal & Manges, advises on most areas of corporate tax, including structured finance, private equity fund structuring, M&A and restructurings.

He will be the 12th partner in Ropes' City arm, which launched in January 2010 with the hires of co-managing partners Mike Goetz and Maurice Allen from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

Since the launch, the firm has hired private equity partners Will Rosen and Kiran Sharma from DLA Piper, as well as Peter Baldwin from Jones Day.

Allen said that Baldry's hire will complement the private equity and finance capabilities of the London base, expanding its ability to serve clients on corporate transactions.

Once the tax practice has been launched, Ropes plans to build both a funds and regulatory practice through lateral hires before the end of the year.

Firmwide tax and benefits head Chris Leich commented: "It is a unique opportunity to have a tax partner in London who is trained in both private equity fund formation and transactional tax issues. Specifically, John's M&A tax expertise will be an important part of the transactional private equity and corporate service that we offer clients through the London office."