Allen & Overy (A&O) has poached Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer corporate partner Toni Valverde to lead its newly launched Barcelona office, the magic circle firm's second Spanish base.

The office, which A&O said will open "within a few months", has been opened to strengthen the firm's European corporate offering.

Valverde, who was previously the managing partner of Freshfields' Barcelona office, is an M&A lawyer with experience in the infrastructure, financial institutions, private equity, TMT and energy sectors.

While at Freshfields, he led on a number of high profile corporate mandates, including acting for Abertis on its 2012 acquisition of Brazilian road operator OHL for €1.5bn (£1.2bn), as well as the multi-billion Euro initial public offerings of Amadeus and Criteria CaixaCorp.

Valverde's departure leaves Freshfields with two lawyers in Barcelona: tax partner Miguel Loran and IP and technology-focused counsel Sergio Miralles.

A&O global managing partner Wim Dejonghe said: "Spain's economy grew at its fastest pace in almost six years in the final quarter of 2013 and this is reflected in the success and profitability of our Madrid office. Today's news underlines the belief that there is a significant opportunity for us to further expand in Spain."

I