Pinsent Masons has made a twin partner hire from Travers Smith and Norton Rose Fulbright to strengthen its finance and restructuring practice in London and Dubai.
The incoming recruits are Edward Smith, who joins in London from Travers Smith, and Seyavash Rahnema who joins in Dubai from NRF. Smith brings more than 25 years of restructuring experience, particularly in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors. He regularly counsels company boards that are facing financial distress.
Rahnema brings more than a decade of banking and finance experience, advising borrowers, lenders and other parties on cross-border financial transactions.
Matt Morgan, Pinsent Masons’ head of finance and restructuring for EMEA, said: “Both Ed and Seya bring a wealth of restructuring and finance experience and are great additions to our team. As the Middle East region continues to see growth in the banking sector, Seya’s expertise will bring a fresh perspective to our clients in the region and cement our commitment to building a truly cross-jurisdictional finance practice.”
Smith joins after just under 10 years at Travers Smith, having previously spent more than a decade during a second spell at K&L Gates as a partner. He originally trained and qualified there between 1996 and 2001 before moving to Freshfields and later Jones Day.
Steve Cottee, Pinsent Masons’ head of restructuring, said: “We know that restructuring is an incredibly difficult time for a business and having the right legal advice is critical in ensuring the process runs smoothly. We have recently acted on the administration of the ISG construction group and the restructure of Poundland and Ed’s arrival gives us additional depth of expertise to support clients like these during these testing times.”
Rahnema, meanwhile, joins after just under 10 years at NRF, having joined as an associate in 2016. He also had earlier spells at 3M as a senior legal counsel and as a legal administrator at the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre. He will work alongside Matthew Escritt in the firm’s growing Dubai finance practice, serving clients in the UAE and the wider Middle East region.
His arrival is the latest addition to the firm’s Middle East bench, following the arrival of William Reichert in its Dubai corporate team from Charles Russell Speechlys at the start of this month. Smith’s arrival also marks the sixth partner hire in London in the past three months, adding to recent recruits including pensions partner Dan Naylor who joined this month also from Travers Smith.
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