Linklaters former finance partner Nigel Pridmore has joined Ashurst in Hong Kong, following in the footsteps of London debt capital markets (DCM) colleague Francis Kucera, who left the Magic Circle firm for Ashurst in December 2013.
Pridmore, who has been a partner at Linklaters since 1998 and was based in Hong Kong between 2006 and 2010 before relocating to London, specialises in advising investment banks, corporations and sovereigns on complex DCM transactions. He left the 2,536-lawyer firm in February.
Pridmore has over 25 years’ experience working in both developed and emerging markets across the Asia Pacific, Western Europe, the Americas, Russia, various CEE and CIS countries, and Africa. Paul Jenkins, co-head of Ashurst’s global finance division, said: ‘[Nigel’s] appointment, as well as the recent appointment of Jennifer Schlosser in Sydney, adds further depth to our DCM and structured DCM offering, not just in Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific but globally. In this we are responding to, and supporting, our clients’ increased focus on capital markets solutions.’
Anna Delgado, head of the global debt capital markets team at Ashurst, added: ‘As global banks shrink their balance sheets to meet new capital adequacy requirements, DCM plays a significantly greater role as a funding source. In the last few years, we have made considerable investment into strengthening our practice, having recently hired Francis Kucera from Linklaters and Derwin Jenkinson from Clifford Chance. Given Nigel’s expertise and reputation in the market, this appointment will greatly enhance our core capital markets practice in the Asia Pacific. We are confident that he will make a substantial contribution to the global team.’
Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk