The Australian Business Specatator published an article thius week by? Allens partner, Paul Quinn , suggesting that UK magic circle firms are looking to Sydney & Melbourne for mergers rather than across the pond to the US.
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There’s been general talk about this trend for as many years as we can remember. But it looks as though the Nortns/Deacons tie up may have spurred others to take action.
That said.. in discussions with a professional services consultant here in HK yesterday it appears to us that some of these tie ups may end up being little more than glorified press releases and that this will become increasingly evident as time goes on.
Our contact suggested that a few big press releases and swapping jnr lawyers across offices do not a joint venture make.
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Here the introduction to the article by Paul Quiinn.
Which top law firm has merger plans?
Rumours of a merger between a major UK and Australian law firm are not new, but as the GFC realigns the global economy a tie-up downunder is looking increasingly likely.
The number of potential suitors has increased and a flurry of deals and transactions have seen Australian law firms climb the global M&A league tables.
To date though only Deacons in its merger with UK-based Norton Rose and Phillips Fox through its tie-up with DLA Piper have entered into link-ups.
However, Clifford Chance was created out of the merger of two prominent UK firms in the 1980s. Throughout the next decade it began merging with legal firms throughout Europe and then in the late 1990s came a hook-up with US-based Rogers & Wells.
Now with annual revenues exceeding a billion pounds, 400 partners and 28 offices there’s speculation in the legal press that it’s looking to expand its legal empire through a merger in Australia.
The UK’s so called Magic Circle firms have instead been focused on ‘the Holy Grail’ of a merger with a White Shoe (don’t ask me who makes up these terms they’ve been around since Cicero was a boy) New York firm such as Cravath and Sullivan & Cromwell.
A recent article by Margaret Simons in UK publication The Lawyer suggests that focus by the UK firms is shifting from a trans-Atlantic merger to a deal in Australia. As the article points out, when you’re a good looking economy the number of potential suitors increases.
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/A-top-tier-law-tie-up-is-imminent-for-the-panel-an-pd20091118-XW4SV?OpenDocument
