The UK legal media have been running hot on this story in the latter part of the week … here’s what Legal Week have to say
http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/2122657/-enters-talks-tie-linklaters-singapore-partner
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Allen & Overy (A&O) has made an ambitious bid to expand its Asian practice after entering discussions to tie up with Linklaters’ Singapore partner Allen & Gledhill.
The City giant on Thursday (4 November) issued a statement confirming that it has entered discussions with the 300-lawyer Asian practice, regarded by many as Singapore’s leading law firm.
The statement reads: “Allen & Overy has entered into preliminary talks with Allen & Gledhill which may, or may not, lead to proposals for a combination of the two firms subject to any necessary regulatory approvals in Singapore.
“The strategic intent behind the talks is to establish whether an alliance or combination is possible which would enhance the market leading positions of both Allen & Overy and Allen & Gledhill in the Asia-Pacific region and enhance Singapore’s position as a regional hub for high value legal services.”
Lucien Wong, managing partner of Allen & Gledhill, told the Singapore publication Business Times: “We have been reviewing strategic options, which we can adopt to enhance our market leading position in Singapore and Asia.”
Allen & Gledhill has been the local partner of Linklaters for 10 years.
Talks between the two firms began in October. It is expected a deal could take months to finalise.
A&O’s move comes during a period in which Singapore has emerged as an increasingly key strategic hub in the wider Asia region. The introduction of a more liberal regime in 2008, which allowed six foreign firms including A&O licences to practise local law, is also seen as underpinning Singapore’s growth and shaking up the local market.
The London-based law firm currently has 53 fee earners in Singapore as part of a 381-lawyer practice spread across the Asia-Pacific region.
The 312-lawyer Allen & Gledhill is one of Singapore’s ?big four’ firms and the second largest local practice by the number of lawyers. The firm – which acts for institutional clients including Bank of America, Barclays Capital, Citigroup, DBS, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and United Overseas Bank – has maintained a formal joint venture with Linklaters since 2000.
However, the joint venture regime has been unpopular with many firms, leading to a number of alliances to be abandoned. International firms typically complain that the joint ventures are too restrictive and allow local firms to work non-exclusively with their international partner.
In contrast, the qualified foreign law practice (QFLP) programme allows international firms to practise local law directly.
Linklaters has yet to seek a QFLP licence. The initial round of licences in 2008 were awarded to A&O, Latham & Watkins, White & Case, Herbert Smith, Norton Rose and Clifford Chance. A&O itself previously operated a joint venture with Shook Lin & Bok, which was abandoned when it secured its QFLP licence.
The talks raise the prospect that Allen & Gledhill could integrate with A&O under the QFLP regime – a move which would hand a huge boost to A&O’s Asia platform.
The firm has been aggressively investing in the region, in recent years securing launches in Australia and Indonesia to forge a nine-office network. A tie-up with Allen & Gledhill would also bolster the City firm’s position in Indonesia, as the country enjoys close business links with Singapore.
