Simmons & Simmons has expanded its Paris office, hiring partner Jérôme Patenotte and of counsel Sophie Mesnier-Teissedre, as well as a senior associate.

Patenotte, who specialises in mergers and acquisitions, will head the firm's new private equity practice. He joins from Gowling WLG (formerly Wragge & Co), which he founded in 2010 with nine other partners. He has more than 25 years' experience in M&A and has developed an expertise in private equity with French mid-cap funds and in corporate law with a foreign, mainly American, client base. He also has expertise in new technologies.

"Jérôme's expertise will allow Simmons & Simmons to enhance its M&A practice, with a leading team dedicated to private equity in Paris," Christian Taylor, head of the firm's corporate and commercial practice in Paris, said in a statement.

Jacques-Antoine Robert, managing partner of the Paris office, said in the firm's statement that through the recruitment of Patenotte and his team, Simmons & Simmons will be able to strengthen its position in corporate work. "His arrival broadens the firm's range of skills and will offer our clients additional purely transactional expertise on the private equity sector in Paris, in a rapidly expanding market boosted by French and foreign investments," he stated.

Patenotte's arrival follows two recent appointments at Simmons & Simmons in Paris, including Sandra Esquiva-Hesse as partner-in-charge of the restructuring practice and Elisa Bocianowska as partner-in-charge of the real estate practice.