BLG brand to disappear as part of Clydes merger
The Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) brand will be scrapped in favour of Clyde & Co when the firms merge in November with BLG’s partners moving onto Clydes’ lockstep structure.
Michael Payton
Around 15 per cent of BLG’s 100 partners are expected to leave the firm as part of the deal, which partners at both firms voted through last week (29 July 2011).
Clydes’ current management will continue in their positions post-merger with Michael Payton remaining as senior partner and Peter Hasson continuing as chief executive of the enlarged firm. BLG senior partner Simon Konsta, who was elected to his position in May 2008 (29 May 2008) will gain a place on the new management board along with current BLG chief executive David Jabbari, who will become chief operating officer of the new entity. A further BLG partner will also be co-opted onto the board.
The decision to adopt the Clyde & Co brand, Hasson said, was driven by the firm’s international presence.
“In the US and Middle East we’ve worked very hard to ensure that the Clydes brand is known and that is broader than just insurance so everywhere we will have the single brand,” he told The Lawyer, adding: “We’ve decided to make the tough decisions at the outset of this process.”
Jabbari added: “It reflects a professional management team coming at the merger from a practical and robust viewpoint.”
The decision on the BLG partnership, said Jabbari, was a continuation of a stated BLG strategy to refocus the firm.
During the 2009-10 financial year BLG saw the exit of several high-profile partners, including litigation chief Julian Randall, who joined Taylor Wessing along with Andrew Howell and Tim Strong.
In November last year Jabbari told The Lawyer that the departures would continue as the firm adopted a new strategy (1 November 2010).
“We’ve been restructuring over a three year period and this can be seen as a continuation of that,” he said this week. “We must also recognise the vital importance of bringing the PEP [in the two firms] into line.”
David Jabbari
At the latest year-end Cydes posted turnover of £212m, up from £192m a year earlier. Average profit per equity partner (PEP) has sat at £605,000 for the last two years (23 May 2011).
At BLG turnover rebounded during the last financial year with the firm posting a 17 per cent rise in turnover, up to £94.5m from £80.8m in 2009-10. The firm has not yet revealed its PEP figure, but it is expected to be approximately £310,000 (16 May 2011).
The firms operate on broadly similar remuneration structures, but BLG partners will be moved onto the Clydes structure with those at the top end of BLG’s equity becoming senior equity partners at Clydes.
The combined firm will have 270 partners and an international network consisting of 27 bases.
View results 10 per page | 20 per page | 50 per page
Readers' comments (37)
Anonymous | 4-Aug-2011 7:42 am
The end of a 170 year era...
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 4-Aug-2011 9:05 am
Back in the early 2000s BLG and Clydes were fairly similar firms. BLG had the stronger reputation in reinsurance, non marine work as well as mainstream corporate and commercial litigation whilst Clydes was pre-eminent in marine, energy and political risk insurance. The reason why Clydes has been able to pull away and swallow its bitter rival is that it has always been guided by a strong professional management team, whilst BLG has lurched from one failed managerial experiment to the next.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 4-Aug-2011 9:29 am
It doesn't matter how many times they both say it, this is not a merger in any shape. It is a clear takeover.
Thats not to say that Jabba and Konsta have done badly. Anyone who can take a firm which has lost 10+ equity partners of a short period of time and make it an attractive proposition for takeover has to be congratulated. Yes they are 15 partners going, but those are the partners who have been stopping the international growth.
For Clydes, a great deal.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 4-Aug-2011 9:46 am
What a charade. Jabbari and Konsta given token roles for 18 months. BLG partners axed. BLG's name relegated to history. This was always a fire sale. Though Jabbari will come in useful in the short term - he either executes redundancies or adds a Cafe Nero to a frim's reception...I wonder what he'll be doing during the 18 months...?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 4-Aug-2011 9:46 am
Nice pay boost for the top of BLG's equity.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 4-Aug-2011 9:51 am
re Anonymous @ 9.05. Totally agree with the analysis of BLG management in the last 10 years. Also add in incompetence and cronyism.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 4-Aug-2011 10:16 am
In pulling off this deal and making BLG ready for takeover surely Jabba and Konsta have done good? The deal could have been a lot worse had a US firm taken them over, there would have been plenty more blood on the carpet.
Dodgy management at BLG for the last ten years? Agreed. But some credit has to go these pair who have made it a viable option for CLydes
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Dayglo Dave | 4-Aug-2011 12:23 pm
Why so much negative comment? Forget the past. Looking forwards, the newly combined team will have excellent lawyers and a great roster of clients. Good luck to them. And keeping the Clyde & Co name is the right thing to do.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anon | 4-Aug-2011 12:26 pm
Good move. It is far better to grasp the nettle and do a single rebrand than to go for the clumsy Clyde BLG for a period and then drop the BLG later.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 4-Aug-2011 12:50 pm
I am baffled by the attacks on Jabba who has achieved an incredible amount in one year, given the mess he inherited. Bottom line is that 10 years ago Barlows and Clydes were roughly the same size. Today, Clydes is three times bigger with offices everywhere and but for the increase in turnover during Jabba's brief reign Barlows would be hardly any bigger than it was in 2001!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment