Linklaters & Alliance has hired SJ Berwin’s highly-rated buy out specialist Graham White, the first major scalp in the magic circle firm’s drive to build a leading private equity practice.

The loss of White, who advised Candover on its £210m MBO of First Leisure’s bar chain, is a blow for SJ Berwin’s transactional private equity team, which has struggled in recent years to match the profile of the firm’s market-leading fund formation practice.