After reports of partnerships voting last week regarding the merger, one of the firms has delayed voting pending a review of numbers.
The legal world would have to wait a while longer to find out if the proposed megamerger between law firms CMS Cameron McKenna, Nabarro and Olswang will be getting the green light from all the three firms’ partnerships.
According to a report from The Lawyer, Nabarro has scheduled its vote regarding the three-way union two weeks from now.
The information comes after reports noted that each of the firms’ partnerships were set to vote on the merger last week. Bloomberg reported last week that the vote was expected to occur 30 September.
Partners at Nabarro are currently reviewing “information packs,” which detail the deal’s numbers, The Lawyer added.
All three partnerships of the firms have confirmed to The Lawyer that they are in talks for a possible merger.
LegalWeek has also reported that “partners close to the three firms” have confirmed ongoing discussions.
In a joint statement, the firm’s said: “We can confirm that the leadership of CMS, Nabarro and Olswang are in discussions about a potential combination.”
“The leadership consider this combination would create a differentiated, modern firm that would combine scale with an exceptional depth of sector expertise,” they added.
If successful, the combined law firm will have in excess of 3,000 lawyers. In 2015, CMS had US$1.2b in revenues while Nabarro posted US$169m in revenues and Olswang saw US$146.4m in revenues. The combined firm would have 65 offices in 36 countries.
LegalWeek said that Olswang has been looking for a merger for some time and was linked to CMS over the summer. Olswang is said to have approached CMS in 2014.
The Lawyer has also noted that all leasing deals on Cannon Place where CMS is headquartered have been put on hold as the firms decide whether or not to merge.
The publication noted that if the deal succeeds, it is likely that Nabarro and Olswang will abandon their current offices at 125 London Wall and 90 High Holborn, respectively, and will move to Cannon Place.
Four floors at Cannon Place, or 80,000 sq. ft. of space, have been put on the market by Savills and CBRE in the past weeks, but possible lease deals have been put on hold by the real estate firms in anticipation of the merger talks.
Nonetheless, Nabarro’s and Olswang’s London offices may significantly complicate the deal as Olswang’s lease on its 182,000 sq. ft. premises at High Holborn will expire in 2022 and Nabarro’s lease on its 100,000 sq. ft. premises at London Wall will expire in 2025.
