ISSUE 10.9
EDITORial >>
ALB Special Report: Philippines 2010 Making the PSE a regional powerhouse
The Russian bear’s bull run into Asia Rusal IPO just the tip of the iceberg
Restrictive covenants
Why lateral hires should tread carefully
A sense of purpose Pre-eminent Asia-Pacific lawyers
T
he latest trans-Atlantic merger talks are between Hammonds – the law firm that is counsel of choice to most English Premier League football teams — and Cleveland-based Squire Sanders. The law firms, who are still to formally approve the union, are the fifth UK-US pairing of the last 18 months. Of the other four, two have been successful and two have not. Hogan & Hartson and Lovells took the plunge in May, and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal and Denton Wilde Sapte will do the same within the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Mayer Brown JSM and Simmons & Simmons ended their rather bizarre talks prematurely, and SJ Berwin’s aggressive search for an American other-half has now shifted to Proskauer Rose, after Orrick’s very public rebuke. Why all these firms seek a trans-Atlantic merger is clear enough: in an environment where incremental organic growth is hard to come by and being a truly top-tier international law firm is all about scale, mergers of this kind are often the best option. How they will pull it off is a less easy question to answer. What will provide the drive and the sense of purpose and unity once the merger agreements are signed, the logos are redesigned and the new name cards are printed? When the spin created by the firms has gone stale, how will these unmistakeably mid-tier international firms challenge the hegemony of the Magic Circle and White Shoe firms with whom they must compete on the international stage? The answer goes beyond the touchy-feely issues of ‘cultural fit’ and gets right down to finances. According to one managing partner that ALB spoke to, for mergers of such a scale to work law firms must combine their finances, just as they are combining their talent, resources and clients. Keeping profit centres separate inhibits their ability to share information, knowledge and clients; in essence, it stifles the creation of a sense of purpose. The true measure of the success of a mega-merger is perhaps not just by how much a firm’s PEP or global revenue increases, but how much revenue flows between each of the former firms. It will be interesting to see how many trans-Atlantic couples can score highly in this regard over the next year or two.
PLUS
Asia’s leading law firms for M&A
MARKET-LEADING ANALYSIS
COMPREHENSIVE DEALS COVERAGE
DEBT & EQUITY MARKET INTELLIGENCE
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IN THE FIRST PERSON “In the 1990s there were a number of investments by Asian companies and governments in Russia but the legal frameworks to support these were not in place” Maxim Alekseyev, Alrud (p9)
“Those law firms who invest time in building a relationship with us – who’ll pick up the phone, rather than email, and ask how things are going even when there is no transaction in sight – will get repeat work. It’s as simple as that” General counsel (p52)
“The passing of the REIT law was an extremely positive and welcome development for the Philippine economy, the capital markets and the real estate sector” Ricardo Castro, Quisumbing Torres (p57)
What will provide the drive and the sense of purpose and unity once the merger agreements are signed, the logos are redesigned and the new name cards are printed?
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