Ashurst has been rocked by the news that top-rated banking partner Jonathan Nabarro is to quit the firm’s Paris branch.

Nabarro, one of France’s leading acquisition finance specialists, is believed to have resigned last week from Ashurst’s Paris office after eight years with the firm. His headline instructions in Paris included advising on Europe’s largest leveraged buy-out, the A 3.7bn (£2.52bn) acquisition of Legrand from Schneider in 2002.