Ashurst closed the doors to two of its European offices in June, confirming it will dissolve its Swedish offering with the entire team of 30 staff in its Stockholm office moving to Hamilton.
The firm will also close its base in Rome with its remaining lawyers relocating to Milan following a review of its Italian offering after a string of exits. The fate of the office was sealed following the resignation of the Rome office’s sole partner Aian Abbas.
Meanwhile, Ashurst’s Stockholm team, which included managing partner Jon Ericson and partners Pontus Bergsten, Eric Halvarsson, Martin Börresen and Mats Johnsson, joined Hamilton on 1 July along with a team of 21 other lawyers and five support staff.
The team will bump up Hamilton’s numbers to 80 lawyers and 110 support staff.
Hamilton confirmed the office would continue a referral relationship with Ashurst on a non-exclusive basis. Ashurst Stockholm opened in 2007 with a focus on public and private M&A, finance, private equity, equity capital markets, restructuring and special situations, and energy, resources and infrastructure.
‘The Stockholm team saw a great opportunity and decided to act on it.’
Johannes Ericson, Hamilton
Hamilton chair Thomas Nygren said: ‘Ashurst’s team’s strength in M&A and banking/finance complement Hamilton’s already leading position in litigation and insolvency, and now there are all the conditions to achieve our vision to be the most prestigious and coveted legal adviser in Sweden for both clients and employees.’
Hamilton partner Johannes Ericson told Legal Business: ‘The Stockholm team, which has been very profitable at Ashurst, decided to leave the Ashurst partnership after discussions with us. The Stockholm team saw a great opportunity and decided to act on it.’
The retreat from Sweden follows Ashurst putting its South Korean plans on ice in January. While plans had stagnated, they came to a halt after a team of Ashurst partners led by its then Tokyo managing partner John McClenahan exited to spearhead US firm King & Spalding’s launch in Tokyo.
The slowdown in international ambitions follows a brutal year for the Anglo-Australian firm financially. Revenues at the firm have fallen 10% to £505m, while partner profits plunged 19% to £603,000.
madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk