Theodore Goddard: the merger targets

CMS Cameron McKenna and Addleshaw Booth & Co have emerged as the UK firms Theodore Goddard has been advised to target for a merger.

These firms are both on a shortlist of suitable merger partners for Theodore Goddard drawn up by its consultants Hildebrandt.

The Lawyer also understands that a Theodore Goddard management group including senior partner Paddy Grafton Green and banking partner James Ballingall have recently returned from a marketing trip to the US to look for merger partners there.

A source close to the firm said the group has been targeting New York based firms with similar profitability to Theodore Goddard, which last year announced average profits per equity partner of £350,000.

Last month, the firm employed private investigators to stop details of who is on the merger shortlist leaking out. Partners are due to be told who any likely merger candidates are at the end of this month (The Lawyer 16 December 2002).