Squire Patton Boggs has bolstered its London practice with the hire of former KPMG lead partner and private equity specialist Stephen Ball, as part of a triple lawyer hire.

Ball joins Squire as a partner after nine years at KPMG, according to his LinkedIn profile. He joined the firm last week, a spokesperson for the firm said.

During his career, Ball has served as CEO, vice chairman and member of the boards of directors at a variety of companies, financial institutions and professional services firms.

Squire has also hired former Simpson Thacher & Bartlett associates Charles Leeming and Ben Squires as partners in London. Leeming joined Simpson Thacher in 2013 from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, while Squires left Macfarlanes to join Simpson Thacher in 2015.

Squire has been on a hiring spree in London in recent months, bringing in Clyde & Co energy partner Peter StewartAshurst's former managing partner and finance partner James Collis, and Herbert Smith Freehills banking partner Ian Yeo in quick succession.

Elsewhere, the firm also opened its first base in Italy, with the hire of a four-partner team from another U.S. firm in Milan.