Camerons parachutes in private equity 'flying squad'

The team, led by partner Ted Cominos who joins as international head of private equity, also feature partners Graham Conlon and Alexandra Florea as well as associates John Faurescu, Cristina Proca, Anela Musat and Gokce Kilic.

Cominos, former head of the magic circle firm’s CEE private equity practice, led the Linklaters ‘flying squad’ until 2007, handling private equity backed M&A transactions in central Europe and other emerging markets.

Since leaving Linklaters, Cominos and Florea have both worked for London-based private equity house Ethemba Capital.

The team is expected to begin work in May, with Cominos based in Chicago, Conlon in London and Florea in Bucharest. Each partner is expected to travel extensively as CMS looks to push its private equity presence across all emerging markets.

Cominos said: “We’re very excited to be joining CMS. We believe that the firm and its global platform are a natural fit for our team. This is a firm that’s well regarded in the market as a leader in private equity and a leader in emerging markets - and we’re confident that we can go further.”

Managing partner Duncan Weston added: “They have a very strong client following among private equity funds based in the City, continental Europe and the US and as noted private equity experts in emerging markets they bring considerable additional experience to our client offering.”