Pharmaceutical business Shire has hired Reckitt Benckiser's group general counsel, Bill Mordan, who has been appointed GC and corporate secretary at the company.

Mordan, who is serving out his notice period at Reckitt Benckiser, has yet to confirm a start date in the new role. He will be based in Shire's US headquarters in Massachusetts.

He will join Shire's executive committee and report in to chief executive Flemming Ornskov.

Ornskov said: "With his proven legal abilities, in-depth knowledge of the UK market and experience advising management and the board, Bill brings a unique combination of technical and leadership skills that will help propel Shire to the next level."

Shire's GC role is currently being filled by Mark Enyedy, who is also the company's head of corporate development, on an interim basis.

Mordan, who spent 12 years at Reckitt Benckiser, was previously at fellow consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble, holding legal positions in Brazil, Mexico and the company's corporate headquarters in Cincinnati during his time there.

A replacement for Mordan at Reckitt Benckiser is yet to be confirmed.

Mordan joins less than a year after prolonged £27bn merger talks between Shire and US drugmaker AbbVie were finally called off.

Slaughter and May and Davis Polk & Wardwell were instructed by Shire on the transaction, while a Herbert Smith Freehills team featuring partners Gillian Fairfield, James Palmer and global M&A head Stephen Wilkinson advised AbbVie before the deal was scrapped last October.