The leadership teams of CMS, Olswang and Nabarro have confirmed they are in three-way merger talks, almost 24 hours after The Lawyer broke the news.
The Lawyer understands the majority of partners at the three firms were kept in the dark until this morning, first reading about the proposed mega-merger on this website.
In a joint statement, the firms said:
“We can confirm that the leadership of CMS, Nabarro and Olswang are in discussions about a potential combination.
The leadership consider this combination would create a differentiated, modern firm that would combine scale with an exceptional depth of sector expertise.
The combined firm would provide clients with a stronger and more global platform served by 65 offices across 36 countries, underpinned by a 250 year City heritage.
There should be no assumption as to the outcome of these discussions and we will update in due course.”
All three firms held partner meetings this morning on the subject and are expected to hold votes on the merger today.
Follow the merger as it happens on The Lawyer’s live blog here.
