Heavyweight London Ashurst Corporate Partner Quits
The partner is joining Baker McKenzie as the international firm continues its transactional push.
October 03, 2019 at 05:14 AM
2 minute read
Another Ashurst London corporate partner has left the firm.
Longstanding partner Nick Bryans is set to join Baker McKenzie in November, a statement from the firm said.
Bryans has been at Ashurst since 1994. He led the firm's Middle East operations as managing partner between 2007 and 2009 and also spent time in its Paris base.
Early in his career at Ashurst he advised on a wealth of major deals, including Morrisons' £3 billion acquisition of supermarket rival Safeway, and Candover and Cinven's £1.2 billion acquisition of Gala Bingo in 2003.
In 2016, he was part of the firm's team that advised the backing banks when U.K. insurance group Esure demerged its price comparison website GoCompare.
Bryans is due to join Baker McKenzie in November.
His departure from Ashurst follows that of corporate heavyweight duo Simon Beddow and Robert Ogilvy-Watson at the start of this year. Beddow, who was London head at the firm, decamped for Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. Ogilvy-Watson joined Macfarlanes.
Baker McKenzie has been on an extended hiring spree in the transactional sphere in recent years, as part of its firmwide strategy overhaul.
In London, the firm has bolstered its capabilities with significant hires including corporate finance White & Case duo Rob Mathews and David Becker, co-head of Sidley Austin's London global finance team Matthew Dening and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer finance partner Geoff O'Dea.
Ashurst global corporate head Jason Radford said in a statement: "We have invested considerably in our global corporate capability, having hired six laterals so far this year. This is all part of a drive to create a higher performing corporate team to consolidate and build on our major successes over the last two years."
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