First big transatlantic merger news we’ve seen in a while .. The legal media in the UK are reporting that
UK firm Lovells and USA based Hogan & Hartson are in the early stages of merger talks,
and Legal Week? say they can reveal, that the the firms’ management teams are? currently assessing the case for a transformative union.
Here’s the introduction to their report
Lovells is to discuss the proposed tie-up with the top 25 US law firm at a meeting of its international executive on 28 October. A deal would create a top 10 global practice in revenue terms.
A decision to pursue the talks, which were initiated informally several months ago, would trigger wider discussion ahead of Lovells’ annual partnership conference on 21 November. The talks are being led on the US side by Hogan chairman Warren Gorrell.
A union between the two firms would create a 2,500-lawyer practice with revenues of around $1.9bn (?1.2bn) according to figures from the latest Global 100 rankings from The American Lawyer and Legal Week.
The Washington DC-based Hogan was the 22nd largest practice in the US in 2008 in revenue terms, with fee income rising 4.9% to $922.5m (?576m), while profits per equity partner (PEP) fell 1.7% to $1.16m (?725,000).
Lovells was an above-trend performer in Europe during the 2008-09 financial year, boosting revenues by 10.9% to ?531m, though PEP fell over the same period by 11.3% to ?586,000. The performance was ahead of the UK top 50, which saw fee income rise by 2.9% while PEP fell on average by 17.3% in the wake of the banking crisis and global recession.
Full Story at?? http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/1557984/lovells-hogan-hartson-size-stakes-transatlantic-merger
