Ropes & Gray has hired former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Matthew Jacobson to expand its M&A group in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

Jacobson was most recently a partner at King & Spalding, which he joined in August 2014 after serving as co-head of the technology and outsourcing practice at Freshfields in New York.

He spent nearly a decade at Freshfields, having joined the magic circle firm's New York base in May 2005 after five years in-house at what was then Hewlett-Packard Co.  Jacobson helped the Palo Alto, California-based company – now known as HP Inc – execute a range of M&A, investment and joint venture deals, including HP's $25bn tie-up with Compaq Computer Corp in 2002.

"If you look at the growth Ropes had, I think there has been pretty good momentum on both coasts," said Jacobson, adding that he was drawn to the opportunity to help the firm expand its M&A and private equity prowess in the Bay Area. Jacobson, who will work out of the firm's offices in east Palo Alto and San Francisco, said he has previously worked with the firm's global M&A head Paul Scrivano, a lateral hire from O'Melveny & Myers in early 2017.

Ropes & Gray has nearly 200 lawyers focused on strategic transactions and other M&A-related work firmwide. In San Francisco and Silicon Valley, it has more than 110 lawyers in total, according to the firm.

In September, Ropes & Gray sought to refocus the London office it opened nearly a decade ago by pushing out at least four partners. The firm, which late last year named partner Julie Jones to succeed longtime chairman Brad Malt in late 2019 and earlier this year tapped David Djaha to serve as its next managing partner, has recently watched a number of partners leave its London ranks.