Norton Rose corporate heavyweight Julian Stanier has left the firm to join Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), marking the latest in a string of hires for the UK top 20 outfit.

Stanier, who will start at BLP in November this year, leaves Norton Rose after 18 years with the firm. He was made up to partner in 2004.

He has acted on a number of major UK corporate deals over the last year, including advising US-based investor ValueAct Capital on its joint bid with CVC Capital partners for FTSE 250 tech company Misys in March 2012.

He also worked with Muller Dairy UK on its £280m acquisition of Scottish dairy company Robert Wiseman Dairies at the start of the year, while he was also part of the firm's team advising Irwin Mitchell on its alternative business structure investment plans.

BLP corporate finance head David Collins said: "Julian's wealth of transactional experience will reinforce our leading reputation in the corporate mid-market, whilst supporting our ongoing efforts to secure greater market share of deals at the higher end.

"We expect him to play an important role in building our portfolio of clients and referrers of business, particularly with financial institutions."

The news comes after a number of high-profile hires for BLP this year with Linklaters' real estate finance head Claire Watson joining the firm in April just weeks after the firm announced the recruitment of Allen & Overy corporate heavyweight Alan Paul.

Linklaters former corporate chief David Barnes also joined BLP as a partner in March this year after retiring from Linklaters' last summer.

Norton Rose head of corporate Martin Scott commented: "We can confirm Julian is retiring from the practice. We wish him all the very best for his future career. Our corporate practice in the UK remains strong, with around 150 lawyers and more than 40 partners."