Leading international law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is to add two partners to its London funds practice.

Pillsbury today announced that intellectual property (IP) litigators Callie Bjurstrom and Peter Hahn have joined its Intellectual Property practice section as partners in San Diego. Formerly partners at Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP, the lawyers add considerable IP litigation and related business experience to Pillsbury. Specifically, Bjurstrom and Hahn’s backgrounds span key industries and disciplines including international technology law and global business, electronic gaming, consumer products and branding, IP portfolio management and complex litigation.

Shearman & Sterling is representing Sany Deutschland GmbH, a subsidiary of Shanghai-listed Sany Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., in its acquisition of German mechanical engineering group Putzmeister. Sany, together with the Chinese private equity company CITIC PE Advisors, Ltd., which will hold a minority participation of 10 percent, acquired all shares in Putzmeister Holding GmbH. Former owners of the Putzmeister Holding GmbH are Karl Schlecht Gemeinnützige Stiftung and Karl Schlecht Familienstiftung. The acquisition, one of the largest acquisitions by a Chinese investor in Germany, is subject to the approval by the competent supervisory and regulatory authorities.

Womble Carlyle today announced that it has merged with the Columbia, S.C. firm of Hall and Bowers, LLC, creating Womble Carlyle’s new Columbia office.

Middletons acted on behalf of the sellers of the Australian and Southeast Asian generic pharmaceutical business, Ascent Pharmahealth. Ascent’s businesses operate as Ascent Pharmaceuticals in Australia and across Asia under the banners of DHA (Drug Houses of Australia) and Ascent Pharmahealth Asia.