Ropes & Gray has strengthened its London and Hong Kong partnerships with the hire of two partners from US rival Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson.

In London it is adding former Allen & Overy finance partner Mark Wesseldine, taking City partner count to almost 20, while in Hong Kong it has hired capital markets and corporate partner Victoria LLoyd.

Wesseldine, who has spent more than 10 years advising clients in the European leveraged finance market on complex cross-border financings and restructurings, has broad experience across all financing disciplines. He will join Ropes on 1 May.

Ropes London co-head Mike Goetz (pictured) said: "We work with highly sophisticated investors and Mark's experience in complex cross-border work will enable us to continue to service that market to a high level."

"Mark's addition rounds out a significant team that enables us to provide clients with a complete spectrum of services from banking and high yield through mezzanine, direct lending and special situations/restructuring, all operating as part of an integrated practice," added Jay Kim, co-head of the firm's global finance practice.

The Boston firm's London base has seen steady growth since it launched in 2010 with the hire of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer finance duo Goetz and Maurice Allen.

Last year, the firm's London office added five new partners, including Anand Damodaran and Matthew Judd from White & Case, as well as Iain Morpeth from Oppenheimer Investments.

News of the departures from Fried Frank come as it has emerged that the firm has downsized in Hong Kong. In addition to the departure of Lloyd, who joined in 2006 from Simmons & Simmons along with eight of her former colleagues, corporate partner Joshua Wechsler, who worked with Lloyd on the Hong Kong listings of China Lilang and Coach Inc, has relocated from Hong Kong to New York. Meanwhile the firm has also taken on new, smaller, office space in the Asian city.

The firm has relocated from approximately 12,000 sq ft on the 9th Floor of Gloucester Tower in The Landmark building, to a base of around 6,000 sq ft in Chater House on Connaught Road.

A spokesperson for Fried Frank said:"We have signed a lease in a space that we like better with room for more than 15 lawyers. Fried Frank is, and always has been, committed to providing M&A, capital markets and litigation advice to our clients in the region.

"We are currently working on a number of [capital markets] matters, including three IPOs of Chinese companies."