Linklaters and top tier Australian firm Allens Arthur Robinson have joined the growing list of firms trying to forge Anglo-Aussie partnerships, with rumours that discussions between the two have been taking place since late last year.
It's a story as old as time: Australian firm realises all its peers are coupling up with international partners, London-based firm realises the UK market is stagnant and all its rivals are seeking their fortunes in resource-rich Australasia. The two spot each other on the international merger lonely hearts page and the rest is history.
Only this time it seems the two firms are looking for an alliance rather than a full merger, according to a Legal Week report: which may have something to do with the pair's wildly different financials. Allens, which is currently in a referral relationship Links' Magic Circle rival Slaughter and May, had profits per partner of £696k ($1.1m) in 2010 compared to Links' £1.16m ($1.7m). And its turnover at £291m ($459.5m) was small fry compared to Linklaters' £1.2bn ($1.76bn).
Neither firm would comment on the discussions. A spokesman for Allens said "we have strong relationships with a number of law firms globally. We meet regularly with them...[but]...we don't comment on the nature of those discussions". Whilst a Linklaters' spokesman would only say "We work closely with all the leading Australian law firms and frequently meet them all around the world".
And while Allens and Linklaters continue to hammer out the terms of their potential relationship, similar romancing is also going on between Frehills and Herbert Smith and it's anyone's guess who will be first up the aisle .
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It's a story as old as time: Australian firm realises all its peers are coupling up with international partners, London-based firm realises the UK market is stagnant and all its rivals are seeking their fortunes in resource-rich Australasia. The two spot each other on the international merger lonely hearts page and the rest is history.
Only this time it seems the two firms are looking for an alliance rather than a full merger, according to a Legal Week report: which may have something to do with the pair's wildly different financials. Allens, which is currently in a referral relationship Links' Magic Circle rival Slaughter and May, had profits per partner of £696k ($1.1m) in 2010 compared to Links' £1.16m ($1.7m). And its turnover at £291m ($459.5m) was small fry compared to Linklaters' £1.2bn ($1.76bn).
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Allens and Linklaters pre-merger discussions yesterday |
Neither firm would comment on the discussions. A spokesman for Allens said "we have strong relationships with a number of law firms globally. We meet regularly with them...[but]...we don't comment on the nature of those discussions". Whilst a Linklaters' spokesman would only say "We work closely with all the leading Australian law firms and frequently meet them all around the world".
And while Allens and Linklaters continue to hammer out the terms of their potential relationship, similar romancing is also going on between Frehills and Herbert Smith and it's anyone's guess who will be first up the aisle .