Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's former London corporate head Simon Marchant will join Australian firm Clayton Utz following his retirement from the magic circle firm at the end of the month.

Clayton Utz, one of Australia's largest law firms, employs almost 700 fee earners in six offices across Australia, including Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, and Melbourne. It is expected Marchant will join the firm's M&A practice in October in a consultancy role.

Marchant's retirement was made public in May, following which the magic circle firm introduced significant changes to its corporate management structure, bringing its corporate, finance and real estate practices under the banner of a global transactions team, led by London finance partner Simon Johnson and Frankfurt M&A partner Rick van Aerssen.

On 1 May, Marchant was replaced by M&A partner and former managing partner of the magic circle firm's US practice, Julian Pritchard, who stepped up to the new role of London head of transactions.

With nearly 30 years at Freshfields under his belt, Marchant – who was made up to partner in 1997 – previously led the firm's Asia business and co-headed its London M&A practice before being appointed head of corporate in 2014.

Marchant's retirement follows that of fellow Freshfields veteran, Nick Segal, who last week (19 July) left the magic circle firm to join Erskine Chambers.