Kirkland & Ellis has made its second big-name hire from Linklaters in three months, taking on the magic circle firm's head of competition and antitrust, Paula Riedel.

Riedel, who has been at Linklaters for more than 10 years, will join Linklaters' former corporate partner and head of real estate M&A, Matthew Elliott, who was recruited to Kirkland's London office in February.

There is no official start date for multi-national merger control specialist Riedel, who is understood to be currently serving out a period of leave at Linklaters.

Some of the biggest deals Riedel has worked on to date include Dubai company DP World's £3.3bn acquisition of UK port and ferries giant P&O in 2005.

A Linklaters spokesperson said: "We thank Paula for her contribution to our competition practice and wish her well."

According to Kirkland's website the firm's competition and antitrust group in London currently consists of two partners and five associates.

The two partners, Shaun Goodman and Sarah Jordan, first joined Kirkland from now-defunct firm Howrey in 2011.

A Kirkland spokesperson said the recruitment of both Elliott and Riedel was not part of a wider strategic programme of the firm expanding through lateral hires, but reflected specific client needs.