McDermott Will & Emery has bolstered its corporate practice in Paris with the addition of M&A and private equity lawyer Guillaume Kellner.

Kellner joins as a partner from Paul Hastings, where he was head of the firm’s corporate department in the French capital. His M&A and private equity experience spans regulated industries, notably healthcare, and he regularly advises funds and industrial groups in the infrastructure sector.

Gregoire Andrieux, managing partner of McDermott’s Paris office, said: “We are taking another step forward in our development with Guillaume’s appointment. His track record of excellence and his expertise in regulated sectors in particular, are a perfect fit with the objectives we have set for ourselves.”

Kellner spent nine years at Paul Hastings before his arrival at McDermott. Recent deals he has advised on include EQT’s acquisition of Colisee and Antin Infrastructure’s disposal of Inicea to Korian.

He said: “I look forward to working with this ambitious and entrepreneurial team. Our goal is to accelerate the development of the firm’s activities in the infrastructure and regulated sectors by relying on the strong regulatory and healthcare expertise of McDermott’s teams.”

His arrival at McDermott takes the firm’s Paris office partner count to 23, 15 of whom work in the corporate department.

Elsewhere in Europe, Fieldfisher’s Spanish arm Fieldfisher Jausas earlier this month hired two regulatory specialists in its Madrid and Barcelona offices. Ramón Vázquez del Rey joined in Madrid from PwC, while Silvia Mañá joined in Barcelona from Professor Joaquín Tornos’s public law boutique, where she was head of real estate.

Also this month, Burges Salmon opened a Dublin office so it can continue to offer IP services in the European Union once the Brexit transition period expires at the end of the year. The Dublin IP team is being led by dual-qualified lawyers Louise Carey and Alison Brennan.

And at the start of December, Mayer Brown snapped up a five-strong team of competition lawyers from Baker McKenzie in Dusseldorf. The team is led by partners Christian Horstkotte, who was previously head of Bakers' national antitrust practice, and Johannes Weichbrodt, who specialises in automotives and heavy industries.