Sorry we’re a bit late with the big story of the week as we’ve been having fun at US airports ….
You’ll all have seen the story by now so here’s the various reports we’ve come across
The Washington Post
D.C. law firm in talks to join British group – Hogan & Hartson, Lovells would combine to form a global giant
Friday, October 30, 2009
Officials at the Washington-based Hogan & Hartson law firm and London-based Lovells said Thursday that they are discussing a possible merger, a move that would make the combined entity one of the largest law firms in the world, with 2,500 lawyers and 40 offices.
Both firms specialize in similar practice areas — mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, litigation and other corporate transactions. A merger, officials said, would allow them to increase market share and become a global powerhouse in three of the most important financial markets in the world: the United States, Europe and Asia.
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Law 21 – Jordan Furlong
I? don?t normally focus on very large law firms and mergers thereof, but I?ll make an exception for this one. As you might have heard, US-based Hogan & Hartson and UK-based Lovells have apparently reached an agreement to merge their respective firms by May 2010. The combined entity (Hogan Lovells, provisionally) would crack the top ten worldwide in terms of both number of lawyers (circa 2,500) and annual billings (north of $1.9 billion), would have a massive global reach (as many as 40 offices, including substantial presence in China, Hong Kong and Germany), and would represent a rare joining of roughly equal-sized firms that appear compatible in both practice and culture.
I won?t try to improve upon the analyses already provided by Bruce MacEwen, Alex Novarese and Aric Press, among others. But I will provide one quote from each to indicate that this is not your garden-variety merger announcement:
– Bruce: ?This is potentially a transaction that will change a conspicuous portion of the BigLaw landscape globally.?
– Alex: This is ?the first concrete evidence to back up the claims made for months by managing partners on both sides of the pond that the general mood is warming to transatlantic mergers.?
http://www.law21.ca/2009/10/30/hands-across-the-water/
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The Lawyer (UK)
Hogan Lovells one step closer as merger wins full support of both firms’ management
Management teams at Lovells and Hogan & Hartson have unanimously backed the firms? proposed merger and will recommend that their respective partnerships back the union.
Following management meetings held yesterday, the firms are now preparing to hold a series of partner meetings in which they will recommend going ahead with a merger of equals.
Documents detailing the terms of the merger will be forwarded to all partners next week, with both partnerships expected to vote on the matter by the middle of December. If the vote is successful, the merger will complete by 1 May next year.
http://www.thelawyer.com/1002431.article?nl=TL-LND
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Bloomberg
Lovells, Hogan Managers Approve Law Firm Merger Plan (Update4)
Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) — The management committees of Lovells LLP, the U.K.?s sixth-largest law firm, and Washington-based Hogan & Hartson LLP recommended that their partners approve a merger that would create one of the world?s biggest law firms.
The combined firm would rank third by number of lawyers, with about 2,500, and eighth by revenue, with as much as $1.8 billion, according to figures compiled by the American Lawyer, a trade magazine. The firm would have 40 offices in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, Lovells and Hogan said today in a joint statement.
?This would be the first transatlantic merger of two top- 30 global law firms, creating a unique global firm covering the U.S. and other international markets,? Hogan Chairman J. Warren Gorrell Jr. said in the statement.
Both firms have strong corporate, merger-and-acquisition, finance, regulatory, dispute resolution and intellectual- property practices, said Lovells Managing Partner David Harris.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=a9.ro5sllWfo
The New York Times
Two International Law Firms May Merge
Two international law firms are in high-level merger talks in a move that would create a behemoth with 2,500 lawyers, an individual with knowledge of the discussions said on Wednesday. Together, the two firms ? Hogan & Hartson, based in Washington, and Lovells, in London ? hope to capitalize on international litigation as investors turn to emerging markets.
The leaders of each firm were expected to meet with their management committees this week. The combined company would probably be one of the top 10 law firms in the world, with joint revenue of nearly $2 billion.
A merger would have to be approved by partners at Hogan and Lovells at meetings in December. The person with knowledge of the deal spoke only under anonymity, saying that discussions were continuing and could still collapse.
The companies have been in talks for two years, this person said, under the belief that the market for cross-border legal services is growing as investors throw capital into foreign markets like Russia, Brazil and India.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/business/global/29law.html?_r=1
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and finally here’s an editorial The Lawyer published on Friday about the merger
We Hart Lovells
So it’s going to happen. As we report today, management teams from both Lovells and Hogan & Hartson have unanimously backed the firms’ proposed merger.
The next step is to recommend the deal to the teams’ respective partnerships. What looks to be a merger of equals should – barring any unexpected at-the-altar shouts of “no!” – be completed by 1 May next year.
As with any union there’ll be teething troubles. But the consensus so far in the market is that this deal could genuinely see the creation of something not seen before.
“At a stroke you’ll have a firm the size of A&O, better quality than DLA Piper, broader in scope than Herbert Smith and far more international than anything in the current UK mid-market,” is how one London consultant sums up the deal.
Whether it kicks off a wave of consolidation misses the point, although the same consultant believes that in a year or two the deal will be seen as the one that really started the trend towards fewer, larger firms.
Until then, the main thing to resolve is the new firm’s name. The scifi-ish Logan remains many people’s favourite while those of a family frame of mind prefer Lovson. And there’s always Hovells.
But at The Lawyer we’re plumping for LoveHart. It’s decidedly sweet – a bit like Lovells.
