Legal Business Blogs

Consolidation update – Dentons and McKenna chiefs back tie-up with November partner vote to follow

Dentons looks set to secure another substantive merger after management of the firm and US suitor McKenna Long & Aldridge this week approved proposals for its mooted union, clearing the way for partners to vote on the tie-up in November.

With both having confirmed the merger discussions in late September, the impending union looks set to create a firm with more than 3,100 lawyers around the world and push revenues through £1bn.

In a statement, the firm said: ‘The boards of Dentons and McKenna Long & Aldridge have recommended to their partners that the firms combine, subject to the approval by their respective partnerships. The voting procedures will follow the protocols of each firm and will be completed no later than November 14, 2013.’

Dentons was formed from the three-way merger of SNR Denton, Salans and Canada’s Fraser Milner Casgrain, which went live earlier this year. The combined firm has 2,360 lawyers and current income of £830m, with profit per equity partner of £451,000.

McKenna Long was formed from the 2002 merger of Atlanta’s Long Aldridge & Norman and Washington DC-based McKenna & Cuneo. The currently firm generates revenues of around $350m.

The impending vote comes amid a flurry of merger bids in the US legal market, with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman confirming ongoing merger talks earlier this month. Washington DC’s Patton Boggs and Dallas practice Locke Lord were also this month reported to be holding merger discussions.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Click here for full coverage of Legal Business’s Global 100 report