Is the merger wave going as strong in the UK as it is here? And
if so, should we blame it on the Yanks?
In a new survey of
85 of the 125 largest firms in the UK, four out of five of the managing
partners or executive directors responding reported that they had at
least engaged in merger discussions in the past two years. Perhaps
more convincing evidence of the durability of the merger wave was that no
one predicted 2006 would see less activity than 2005: All
respondents saw M&A among law firms up or at worst flat vs. this past
year.
Short of outright M&A, acquisition of laterals is also going strong. The
biggest deal of the year in the UK was DLA Piper’s acquisition of a 45-lawyer
media and intellectual property team from Denton Wilde Sapte. (Not
to date myself, but I remember when 45 lawyers was a halfway respectable
size for an entire firm.)
"Legal services is a marketplace which is changing quite dramatically
at present," said the conductor of the survey. And maybe you
should blame it on the Yanks: A year ago 50% thought the influence
of US firms was largely behind the increased M&A and lateral movement pressure. This
year? 71%.
Update 4-Jan-2006, 2:00pm:
An astute reader points out that
it serves me right to believe everything you read in the MSM (my
words—not his).
In fact, I was mistaken to say
"The
biggest deal of the year in the UK was DLA Piper’s acquisition of
a 45-lawyer media and intellectual property team from Denton Wilde
Sapte." In
fact, DLA picked up 11 partners, 18 lawyers, four trainees and 12
support staff. A bigger deal was Orrick’s taking 9 partners,
31 associates, trainees and legal staff, together with 32 support staff
in June of last year.
I would give this very much on-the-ball reader credit, but he declines.
Now, I for one am waiting to see how long it will be before The
Financial Times prints a correction….
