The managing partners of Nordic law firms Roschier and Hannes Snellman have left their respective firms to launch a new venture in Helsinki.

Roschier's Ulf-Henrik Kull and Hannes Snellman chief Carl-Henrik Wallin have joined forces to launch a new law firm, Avance Attorneys, which opened for business earlier this month (4 October).

Avance will focus on transactional work in three key areas – corporate, private equity and banking.

Other founding partners of the new firm include: Ilkka Perheentupa, who has joined from the New York corporate department of Weil Gotshal & Manges; Sari Wallgren, formerly a banking and finance senior associate at Hannes Snellman; Elisa Heinonen, a Roschier senior associate focusing on public M&A and equity capital markets; and Erkki-Antti Sadinmaa, a Roschier senior associate who specialises in private equity and M&A.

Mathias Lindqvist and Christoffer Charpentier, who currently head up Hannes Snellmann's private M&A and real estate & energy practice respectively, will also join Avance as partners after serving notice periods at the firm.

Kull said: "After my highly rewarding tenure as the managing partner of Roschier, I have decided to again concentrate fully on client work. Our founding team wants to set up an independent and client-focused firm."

Wallin added: "We are building a next generation law firm with a team that combines a solid track record of corporate and transactional advisory work with a unique breadth of international experience."

"We also want to engage exceptional young practitioners and provide them with early opportunities to participate in the building of our firm."

Roschier has replaced Kull with the appointment of intellectual property lawyer Rainer Hilli as its new managing partner. Hannes Snellmann has yet to replace its outgoing managing partner.