PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has sealed the hire of McDermott Will & Emery London corporate partner Mark Crofskey to bulk up its UK legal arm's M&A team.

Crofskey is set to lead PwC Legal's M&A practice alongside corporate partner Alistair Hogarth. He is expected to join the accountancy firm next month.

The practice, which focuses on mid-tier private equity and inbound acquisitions, aims to reach £8m in revenue by 2017.

Crofskey, who joined McDermott as a partner in 2008 from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, has advised UK, US, Russian, EU and Kazakh clients on corporate matters including initial public offerings, joint ventures, disposals and acquisitions. He has also advised private purchasers in relation to oil and gas as well as energy-related assets in Europe and Russia.

The hire comes at a time when the major players in the accountancy sector have been building their legal arms with a number of top tier recruits.

Earlier this month, EY (formerly Ernst & Young) snared Olswang's former employment group head Daniel Aherne as its third partner-level hire from a law firm this year. In April, PwC Legal announced the hire of Fieldfisher technology partner Stewart Room to lead its cyber security practice.

The firm also has plans to double the number of lawyers working in Asia over the next five years as part of a global strategy to grow its legal services revenue from $500m (£309m) to $1bn (£619m). The legal function has already entered the Canadian and Singaporean markets through local tie-ups in recent months.

|