CMS, Nabarro and Olswang merge
The partners of CMS UK, Nabarro and Olswang have voted in favour of a proposal to combine their firms and create a new law firm that is become the world’s sixth largest law firm by lawyer headcount and sixth largest in the UK by revenue.
The merger, which is due to complete on May 1, 2017, will be the largest merger ever in the UK legal services market. Nabarro and Olswang will join the CMS UK LLP partnership, creating a firm that is uniquely positioned to provide clients a distinctive offering driven by technology and sector expertise underpinned by deep experience and heritage.
The new firm will trade as CMS, and the name of the UK LLP will be CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP. The new global sector law firm will focus on six sectors of energy, financial services, infrastructure & projects, life sciences and healthcare, real estate and technology, media & telecommunications serving 36 countries across 65 offices
Building on the CMS global platform, the new firm will be transformative, bringing together a world-class bench of nearly 2,500 lawyers in the UK[1] within a global team of over 4,500 lawyers to lead the rapidly changing legal market and meet the needs of clients in the City, the UK, Europe and internationally. Together the new firm will be uniquely positioned because of its sector experience, deep industry knowledge and expertise and international scale.
This merger aims to enhance the new firm’s leadership in the City, strengthen its position to grow further globally and meet the need of international clients who require advice and access to English law and English courts.
With the addition of Nabarro and Olswang, CMS will have over 1,000 partners and over 7,500 employees across 65 offices in 36 countries around the world, with combined revenues of circa £450 million in the UK and revenues well in excess of €1.2 billion globally.
The leadership, Boards and Partners of all three firms believe that the merger is an excellent fit in culture and values, presents an outstanding opportunity, and consequently have given their overwhelming support.
