DLA Piper has appointed Australian corporate and financial services lawyer Luke Gannon as a partner in its corporate group and head of the firm's funds practice throughout Asia. Gannon, who will be based in DLA Piper's Hong Kong office, will work closely with partners from the firm's financial services and regulatory groups and will act for a range of clients on mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets matters.
 
Gannon has almost 20 years experience in a range of funds, regulatory and capital-raising matters in Asia, acting for clients including real estate investment trusts, hedge funds, funds of funds, private equity, infrastructure funds, wealth managers, underwriters and corporate issuers.
 
He was previously a partner and head of funds for eight years at Australian law firm Freehills in Melbourne, where his clients included a international investment banks, fund managers and sponsors. In 2006, he joined a major client as head of corporate and M&A, gaining extensive commercial and acquisitions experience in Asia's financial services sector.

'Luke brings a strong commercial approach to advising on financial services, capital-raising and particularly funds-related issues, which will enhance our offering to clients,' says DLA Piper managing director for Asia Alastair Da Costa.

'The addition of Luke as a corporate partner and head of funds in Asia is a real asset to our practice. Our continued focus on securing premium legal expertise enables us to provide clients with access to a full range of quality legal advice to support their business needs, however complex these might be.'

DLA Piper is a global law firm with more than 3,700 lawyers and 64 offices in 25 countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East as well as the US.