A&O loses Spanish competition duo to Roca Junyent

Allen & Overy (A&O) has lost the bulk of its Spanish competition team after counsel Pedro Callol and associate Jorge Manzarbeitia left to join Roca Junyent.

Callol will become a partner at Roca’s Madrid office when he joins later this month. He was head of A&O’s competition team in Spain, with a practice focusing on the competition aspects of M&A and joint venture deals.

Callol said : “ I’m impressed by the client list here at Roca. I’ve already got five matters queuing up.”

A&O hired Callol in 2002 from Arnold & Porter as a senior associate, promoting him to counsel in 2006.

Roca has its headquarters in Barcelona and last year boosted its revenue by 20.3 per cent to reach €32m (£25.43m).

Callol will join as head of the firm’s competition department. A&O declined to comment.