White & Case has recruited Weil Gotshal & Manges London banking head Mark Donald, alongside the hire of a Paris private equity team from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Donald has been at Weil since 2012 after joining from Hogan Lovells, and in 2014 he succeeded Stephen Lucas as Weil's London banking head after the latter's departure to Kirkland & Ellis.

Major work Donald has been involved in during his time at Weil has included advising on the multibillion-dollar financing of Hellman & Friedman's acquisition of Bain Capital's holding in Securitas Direct in 2015, while the previous year he advised the banks on Hony Capital's $1.54bn acquisition of Pizza Express.

He was also part of the Weil team advising BHS on its administration in 2016.

At the same time, White & Case has also added to its Paris office with a trio of hires from Orrick, led by partner Saam Golshani, who headed up the firm's French M&A and private equity group.

Golshani, who also co-led Orrick's European restructuring group, is followed to White & Case by fellow partner Alexis Hojabr and of counsel Guillaume Vitrich.

The European hires are the latest by White & Case in an expansive year for the US firm. It has made multiple hires in London so far in 2018 as part of its ambitious five-year strategy plan, targeting key areas.

Hires this year have included JP Morgan Chase executive director and assistant general counsel Julia Smithers Excell, Herbert Smith Freehills projects partner Simon Caridia, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner contentious construction and engineering partner David Robertson, and Cadwalader London litigation partner Steven Baker.

The firm is now more than halfway through the plan, which included a target of boosting lawyer count in the City from 350 to more than 500 within five years, with the firm also aiming to increase New York headcount to a similar size.