Legal Business

A&O merger bid risky but US question can’t be delayed forever

‘It is an odd couple. I wouldn’t have put them together,’ is one take from a London peer to the news that Allen & Overy (A&O) has sought a $2.8bn union with O’Melveny & Myers. It is certainly a representative view.

Since news of the talks broke in early April, One Bishops Square has gone uncharacteristically coy. However, it is understood that management indicated earlier this year that it was talking to two, then unnamed, US firms. A&O, of course, has to tread carefully – getting a deal through the demanding audience of its London partnership with O’Melveny or any comparable firm is a big ask.