Orrick has hired the former head of Shearman & Sterling’s Italian M&A practice, Fabio Fauceglia, and his team of six lawyers in Milan.

The move follows Shearman’s mega merger with UK firm Allen & Overy going live at the start of this month, which created a firm with nearly 4,000 lawyers and revenue in the region of $3.5bn.

It also sees Orrick restock its Italian bench after the practice’s co-founding partners, Patrizio Messina and Alessandro De Nicola, defected to Hogan Lovells and BonelliErede respectively earlier this year with large teams. 

Fauceglia has joined Orrick’s M&A and private equity team alongside of counsel Leonardo Pinta and five associates. He practised for more than 20 years at Shearman and advises private equity investors in Europe as well as international companies, family offices and entrepreneurs on domestic and cross-border M&A, including competitive auctions, takeovers, joint ventures and carve-outs.

Attilio Mazzilli, managing partner of Orrick’s Italian offices, said: “We are delighted to add Fabio and his team to our practice as we pursue our strategy in Italy focused on serving energy, infrastructure and tech companies and their financial sponsors, particularly on cross-border matters that connect with Orrick’s global strengths.  

“Having practiced across from him for years, I know we are fortunate to add to our team a top-quality practitioner who is one of the leaders in the Italian M&A and private equity market,” he added.  

Fauceglia led the global team that advised General Electric in its $4.3bn acquisition of Avio’s aviation from Cinven and Finmeccanica back in 2013 and has also worked on deals with Esso Italiana Exxon Mobil, CVC Capital Partners and Oaktree Capital Management, according to his Orrick bio. The firm said that in the past six months he has led teams working on deals worth more than €2bn.  

Following the team’s arrival Orrick’s Italy practice has 34 lawyers across Rome and Milan.  

The newly-formed A&O Shearman lists 19 lawyers in Italy, including partners Pietro Bellone and Livio Bossotto, both of whom were previously at Allen & Overy.  

In the wake of the merger the former head of Shearman’s Italian corporate practice and its Rome and Milan offices, Domenico Manuele, has joined White & Case, while former partner Giulio Tognazzi has joined Delfino Willkie Farr Gallagher with his team as head of banking and finance.