SJ Berwin has scooped Hicks Muse Tate & Furst as a new client, edging aside the trophy private equity house’s favoured counsel Weil Gotshal & Manges.

The UK firm is understood to be advising on the formation of a key fund that Hicks Muse is setting up at the same time as it creates separate US and UK profit pools. The move is expected to give Hicks Muse’s European operations far greater autonomy from its US parent.