Kirkland & Ellis has re-hired former partner Matthew Gerber to the firm's London private equity group following a stint at defunct private equity house DMC Partners.

DMC, an emerging markets-focused firm which was launched in 2012 by a former Goldman Sachs executives, recruited Gerber as its general counsel in August 2013.

The buyout house folded over the summer after calling off efforts to raise a fund, reportedly owing to concerns over the ongoing Ukraine crisis.

Gerber is a US-qualified lawyer focused on private equity, including cross-border acquisitions and divestitures, fund formations, joint ventures and restructurings.

He was resident in the Kirkland's London office between 2007 and 2012, the same year he moved to the Hong Kong office and was made partner.

At Kirkland, he will be re-united with a trio of former Hong Kong partners who have been re-deployed or moved to the London office this year.

This includes the firm's high-profile head of private equity in Asia David Eich, who is finalising his move to the London office this week in a bid to bolster the firm's corporate relationships in Europe.

Earlier in the summer, fellow Hong Kong partner Ashley Young relocated to London to work alongside the firm's recent star hire – Weil Gotshal & Manges' banking head Stephen Lucas.

Corporate partner Christopher Braunack is also relocating to the City office.

Kirkland's London office has seen a number of departures over the summer, including partners Matt Dean and Claire McDaid, who were hired by Willkie Farr & Gallagher to launch the firm's long-expected push in the London leveraged buyout market.

Arbitration partner Ulrich Payne is another to have left the firm over the summer.