Three transatlantic options on the table as firm aims to build on £15m stateside business
Since the firm’s June partner conference at Barcelona’s Hotel Arts, it has been decided that Hammonds needs to give further impetus to its £15m US business.
Managing partner Peter Crossley told The Lawyer: “We’ve had a US initiative running for some time and we’re looking at how we can take that on to the next stage.”
There are three options, said Crossley. The first is to secure a merger with one US firm. The second is to seek a strategic alliance, which would lead to a more formal association. A final choice would see Hammonds maintain the status quo and develop its existing relationships with US corporates and law firms.
“The nature of a link-up with a US firm for us would mean there wouldn’t be any profit-sharing arrangement to begin with,” added Crossley. “We’d have to get our own house in order too.”
The managing partner confirmed that a firm with a significant presence in Eastern Europe, where Hammonds does not have a presence, and Asia, where it has two relatively small Chinese offices, would be particularly attractive, as it would not clash with Hammonds’ existing footprint.
Income from the firm’s US business currently accounts for around £15m, with the firm’s French and German offices benefiting from the flow of mostly corporate work from the US.
Recent deals to come out of the US include the £1.03bn cash offer from client Illinois Tool Works for kitchen equipment maker Enodis, which ended up going to the Manitowoc Company.
“There’s a view that the US has had its day in the sun and that you should be looking to the Bric [Brazil, Russia, India and China] countries,” said Crossley. “They say that the last century belonged to the US and the future lies in the East. I don’t subscribe to that view. The US has a way of reinventing itself.”
But Crossley sounded a warning note, saying: “A lot of partners think that there’s a silver bullet out there – we could do a merger and all our problems would disappear. In the real world it doesn’t work that way. Getting it wrong would be disastrous.”
Hammonds
From: Anonymous
Sorry - why is this news?
Same Old Tune
From: Anonymous
It is like the " Don't get drunk and invite a lawsuit for sexual harassment" articles that appear every Christmas. I imagine a transatlantic merger has probably been on the Partner Conference agenda every year since the mid 90s along with " How to improve our IT , reduce WIP and get more annuity clients" ! . Not that Hamonnds will be alone amongst law firms in that respect but what is different now? Hope springs eternal i suppose but as the least successful major firm in the Uk in terms of recent growth Hammonds is hardly a great catch for any US firm is it ?"
Hammonds US Merger!
From: Pie Eater
Crossley is nothing if not honest. But it is an interesting marketing strategy to ‘fess up to “all our problems” and admit that some partners are seeking a “silver bullet” as part of a plan to pursue a US merger partner. For sale: Car with previous reckless owners, lots of recent welding work, came close to being written off but has since been running well on smooth roads. Not the most attractive marketing message!