Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has hired two partners from Allen & Overy to bolster its London corporate practice.

The U.S. firm has picked up A&O partners George Knighton and Simon Toms, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, with the pair leaving the Magic Circle firm just weeks after its merger talks with U.S. firm O'Melveny & Myers broke down.

Knighton's practice focuses on public and private M&A, private equity transactions and restructurings, while Toms' corporate practice focuses on cross-border public and private M&A transactions, joint ventures, corporate re-organisations and equity capital markets transactions, with a particular focus on the technology, media and telecoms sectors.

For Skadden, the move goes some way towards plugging the gap left by London funds partner Stephen Sims, who retired from the firm in July.

Skadden and A&O declined to comment.

Earlier this week, A&O made its first hire since the merger talks ended earlier this month, bringing in Simmons & Simmons employment partner Vicky Wickremeratne.

A&O's merger talks with O'Melveny collapsed at the beginning of September, with the firms saying they had "mutually decided not to continue these discussions", despite "compelling synergies" between the two.