Ashurst has announced the appointment of Simon Beddow as co-head of the firm's global corporate, commercial and competition (CCC) division, a role he will undertake with Sydney-based co-head Phil Breden.

Beddow became a partner in 1998 and was appointed managing partner in Germany in 2005 before returning to London in 2009. He was appointed as European managing partner of corporate in 2010. He has significant experience in all aspects of UK and international corporate finance and has wide experience of public and private M&A transactions, IPOs, secondary issues and private equity transactions.