Italian heavyweight BonelliErede has seen an 18-strong tax team including three partners decamp for Milan rival Legance. 

The team includes the founder and former head of Bonelli’s tax team, Andrea Silvestri, alongside fellow partners Matteo Fanni and Giulio Mazzotti and 15 more professionals. 

The team’s hire represents a major coup for Legance, more than doubling the size of its tax team and bringing its partner count to 65. 

Legance managing partner, Alberto Maggi, said the team “strengthens our ability to provide highly qualified assistance in the tax field and is an illustration of Legance’s strategy, which combines internal growth with very selective external reinforcements.” 

Silvestri has joined Legance after 20 years as a partner at Bonelli, prior to which he worked in international taxation at Deloitte. A highly respected tax lawyer, he provides national and international tax advice for corporates, with a particular focus on acquisitions and reorganisations. He also maintains an active litigation practice and led the tax litigation focus team at Bonelli. 

Meantime Fanni spent 13 years at Bonelli, where he has been a partner since 2019. A specialist in tax litigation, he advises companies and individuals in the event of inspections and audits, in pre-dispute and dispute resolution procedures and in proceedings before Italy’s tax courts. 

Mazzotti is a chartered accountant who joined Bonelli in 2011 and became a partner at the firm earlier this year. His practice focuses on national and international taxation of corporates, private and institutional investments, M&A and private equity transactions, as well as tax issues in the energy, infrastructure and telecommunications sectors.

The trio’s practices dovetail nicely with Legance’s tax offering, which covers corporate transactions, financing operations, real estate matters and fund set-up. The Legance tax team, which houses partners Luca Del Carro, Marco Graziani and Claudia Gregori, also provides support on tax litigation and is experienced in transfer pricing mandates.  

Silvestri commented: “I am excited about this new professional challenge and convinced that thanks to the combined team, Legance’s tax department will be able to respond to its clients’ needs even more.”

The team’s departure is a blow to Bonelli’s Band 1-ranked tax practice, reducing it to five partners including leading practitioners Andrea Manzitti and firm president Stefano Simontacchi. The practice is sought out by an enviable list of blue chip clients including LVMH, Prada and Philip Morris for both advisory matters and heavyweight disputes and is noted by Chambers for its cross-border expertise. 

Simontacchi and Bonelli’s managing partner, Andrea Carta Mantiglia, commented on the departures: “We appreciate the contributions they have made during their time with us and wish them success in their future endeavours.”