SJ Berwin private equity partner Ed Harris is leaving to join Hogan Lovells' London corporate practice, just weeks before the merger between his old firm and Asia-Pacific giant King & Wood Mallesons goes live.

Harris has been a partner at SJB since 2007 and has advised a number of high profile clients including Terra Firma, Pantheon Ventures Investindustrial, EQT, Actavis and Constellation Software Inc.

Alan Greenough, global Co-Head of Hogan Lovells' private equity practice, said: "Both our London and European private equity teams hold a strong market position and the arrival of Ed will only reinforce this further. His recruitment demonstrates our continuing commitment to developing our global practice which we hope to grow further with Ed on board".

Harris worked alongside Allen & Overy and Freshfields on the refinancing of European payment network, Payzone in 2010. Harris advised private equity investor Duke Street on its €45m (£39m) stake in the business. Last year Harris acted for Duke Street again on the acquisition of a stake in insurance law firm Parabis Group.

Earlier this month Mayer Brown recruited SJB real estate partner Pat Jones after ten years at the firm.

The tie-up of SJB and KWM marks the first major merger between a UK and a pan-Asia-Pacific firm, and will go live from November this year following a partner vote in July. The merger will create a $1bn (£657m) firm, with the SJ Berwin name set to disappear after a transitional period.