U.S. private equity giant The Blackstone Group has hired Richard Blair as general counsel for the Asia-Pacific region from Magic Circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where he was a partner in the Hong Kong office.

Blair joins Blackstone after having spent more than 16 years at Freshfields. He joined the firm in 2003, and was promoted to counsel in 2017. Blair became a partner in May last year.

An expert on corporate finance transactions, including public and private mergers and acquisitions, Blair’s work covers equity capital markets, joint ventures, and general corporate and listed-company matters.

Prior to his time at Freshfields, Blair has in-house roles at Barclays and BT Global Services.

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