The American Lawyer's Aric Press examines what a merger of Hogan & Hartson and Lovells would mean. (Press dubs it "Hogells," à la Harry Potter.)
The combined firm, if it merged as one partnership, would immediately become one of the 10 largest firms in the world, both in terms of headcount and revenue.
"It would be the first major transatlantic merger of globally-oriented equals. It would be the first transatlantic deal that would be built, in significant part, on the strength of its combined litigation practices. It would be the first deal of its sort that didn't pretend to offer entrée into the New York capital markets," Press writes. "And it would be a sign that while the Magic Circle and most financially elite New York firms continue to insist on their independent futures, firms just one step behind can see a future where a combination is greater than the sum of its parts."
Check out his full column here.
Legal Week's Alex Novarese has also weighed in on the merger talks, noting that "the talks are 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."
Novarese writes that the practice mix of the two firms "looks right," the finances are close, and the timing is promising for the deal.
To read his complete blog item, click here.
That's got to be tricky, merging two firms from different nations. There's a lot of unwritten, unspoken assumptions on so many things that can be difficult to merge like this.
Posted by: Joe | October 08, 2009 at 01:31 PM