Maxwell Batley and Winward Fearon deal creates £12m real estate boutique

City property firm Maxwell Batley and construction boutique Winward Fearon are to merge, creating a 22-partner firm with an annual turnover of £12m.

The merger, which will go live on 1 April 2007, will see the firm renamed Maxwell Winward. It will operate as a limited liability partnership.

Maxwell Batley senior partner Raymond Levine will remain senior partner of the merged entity while Maxwell’s Christopher North and Winward’s Adrian Luto will assume co-managing partner duties.

Levine told The Lawyer: “This is perceived on both sides as very much a merger of equals, even though Maxwell Batley was a slightly larger firm. We are putting together two strong practices and we will be even stronger as a merged firm.”

Luto said: “This is a merger driven very much by client needs. We have found increasingly the level of service required has grown, and this will allow us to service each respective firm’s clients best.”