Goodwin Procter has hired CMS London and U.K. head of private equity James Grimwood.

Grimwood moves after more than two decades at CMS, having joined legacy firm CMS Cameron McKenna in 1997. He previously served as global private equity head at the firm, and was appointed U.K. and London head of private equity in 2012.

Grimwood was part of the CMS team that advised Cinven alongside Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in 2018, when the private equity firm acquired European pet food manufacturer Partner in Pet Food.

A spokesperson for CMS confirmed his departure and wished him well.

Grimwood is the first major private equity addition for Goodwin's London office in recent years.

The U.S. firm spearheaded the growth of its private equity practice in Europe with the hire of King & Wood Mallesons private equity co-head Richard Lever in 2015.

It later picked up a heavyweight Paris private equity team from KWM, and in 2017 added private equity duo Mark Soundy and Sarah Priestley. The pair have since left to launch their own firm.

The firm recently opened a Luxembourg office focused on private equity.

Goodwin has also expanded its wider European practices in recent months, particularly its technology and life sciences offering. At the end of 2019 it opened a Cambridge base with the hire of heavyweight team in the area from Taylor Wessing, and has also added several partners to its London office since launching its European tech and life sciences platform in 2018 with a trio of Dechert partners.