Freshfields has appointed partner Simon Marchant as its new Asia managing partner, a position which has been left vacant for three years.
Marchant, a London-based M&A specialist, will transfer to the Hong Kong office later this year. He will take over the role that was vacated after partner Perry Noble stepped down from the position in 2006. “Recently the emphasis for us in Asia has been on building the business on a country-bycountry basis – focusing on the dynamics of the local markets,” he said. “That has been hugely successful. But our clients are increasingly looking to us to help them across the region, and indeed inter-regionally. That, combined with the increasing size of our business in Asia, has led us to conclude that now was the right time to reinstate the regional role.”