The merger bid was given official backing by the Beiten Burkhardt partnership at the end of July, but it is understood that since then, there have been a number of difficulties that have had to be overcome.
One anticipated problem was that T&G is structured as a German company and therefore will be difficult to integrate with a traditional partnership.
But Treuhand managing partner Detlev Haselmann said that the real problems were cultural. “The big difficulty is bringing everyone together,” he said. “I am confident that we'll reach a decision in the next week, but I can't say whether or not this is going to work. We'll have to wait and see what the outcome of the vote is.” However, a source close to Beiten Burkhardt said that he was confident that the vote would be successful.
T&G is waiting for the outcome of the Beiten Burkhardt vote before it schedules its own vote.
A merger would put KLegal in a position to compete with rival accountancy-linked firms Andersen Legal and Landwell, which both have strong presences across Europe.
But Beiten Burkhardt is not without its troubles. Its corporate practice was recently hit by the departure of rainmaker Gerhard Schmidt and a team of three joined the Frankfurt office of US firm Weil Gotshal & Manges. Then, at the end of July, it suffered the loss of potential merger partner Simmons & Simmons, which aborted talks.