Sidley Austin has taken further steps to ramp up its Singapore practice this week with the recruitment of Morgan Lewis & Bockius M&A partner Gregory Salathe.

The US firm was one of the four international outfits granted a Qualifying Foreign Law Practice (QFLP) licence in the Asian city-state in February this year, allowing it to advise on local law.

Salathe, who focuses on cross border M&A deals, funds and private equity, was a strategic hire for the firm, who recently announced plans to re-launch its funds practice in Singapore with the hire of Clifford Chance partner Han Ming Ho.