Clydes cherrypicks Shadbolt practices

The Lawyer revealed last year (19 November 2009) that the firms were holding merger talks after Shadbolt had launched a strategic review in March that resulted in a search for a tie-up.

After discussions Clydes will acquire the firm’s London-based construction and infrastructure practice and dispute teams, as well as the UK corporate practice. It will also take the Paris office, where it already has a presence, and take over the joint venture established between Shadbolt and Tanzania-based firm AKO Law.

Head of construction at Clydes John Morris said the takeover would give the firm “the additional critical mass and depth that we would have perhaps lacked in ­projects in the past”.
Chief executive Peter Hasson added: “This will build on our projects offering and particularly assist in the developing markets in the Middle East and India.”

Meanwhile, Shadbolt’s employment and disputes team, led respectively by Helen Boddy and Kate Matthews, will join Guildford-based Stevens & Bolton along with construction and engineering partner Tom Pemberton.

A further two partners, Jonathan Gold and Peter Sheridan, are planning to launch their own firm, Sheridan Gold, based in Reigate.