Ashurst nabs Corrs partners
Ashurst has recruited a pair of former Corrs Chambers Westgarth partners to its Sydney office.
Robert Ritchie (pictured) and Shawn Wytenburg joined the financial services practice of the firm yesterday (22 May).
Wytenburg is a leading lawyer in leveraged and acquisition financing. His recent deals are some of the most significant to have occurred in the financial services sector in the past year and include Bain Capital's acquisition of MYOB; the Carlyle/National Hire Consortium's merger and take private of Coates Hire; and acting for Morgan Stanley in arranging and funding Archer Capital's successful bid for Healthe Care.
"When you consider the experience, expertise and professionalism Robert and Shawn bring to the team, combined with the recent appointment of China-based partner Patrick Phua and the secondment of London-based partner Doo-Soon Choi, it is clear our financial services practice is going from strength to strength," said managing partner John Carrington.
Ashurst’s financial services practice leader in Australia, Ray Mainsbridge, said leveraged and acquisition finance, as well as project finance, are strengths of the global firm.
“Given Robert's regional focus and more than 20 years' experience in Australian and international finance, his addition to the team will allow us to take advantage of the project financing opportunities arising throughout Asia,” said Mainsbridge.
Ritchie said Ashurst was a “very attractive opportunity”, which offered the chance to work with a global firm with a strong reputation in Australia and across international borders.
Wytenburg agreed with the appeal of Ashurst's global footprint and cross-border capabilities.
"The global nature of Ashurst was definitely an attraction, as was the opportunity to work with an already very strong financial services team, with people like Paul Jenkins, Steve Smith and Martin Coleman, to bring a range of international financing solutions to our clients," said Wytenburg.