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Nabarro and Olswang to disappear as merger with CMS confirmed
By Rachel Moloney 10 October 2016 14:45
CMS, Nabarro and Olswang partners have voted through the firms’ three-way merger, which is expected to complete next May.

The new firm will be called CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, but will trade as CMS. Under the terms of the merger, Nabarro and Olswang will join the CMS UK partnership.

The vote had been scheduled to take place at Nabarro in the week of the 17 October.

This came after a vote scheduled at all three firms was put on hold at the end of September.

All three firms have now given the merger the go-ahead, with the trio confirming talksat the end of September.

The combination will create a global firm with total revenues just shy of £1bn, gifting CMS with a real estate team and lending significant European weight to Nabarro and Olswang.

CMS was one of a group of firms tipped to be joining Olswang and Nabarro in the three-way merger plans.

News leaked in August that Olswang was exploring its options for a three-way merger having originally been in the market to be taken over.

The firm first approached Simmons & Simmons and Bird & Bird about traditional merger plans at the start of this year but changed tack when discussions were stonewalled.

Insiders framed the three-way merger as the “best possible result” for Olswang, which has seen two years of upheaval and partner exits.

Meanwhile Nabarro had last month denied that the firm was looking for a merger, with an all-staff email circulated by senior Ciaran Carvalho stating that a “merger is not part of our strategy”.

It has now emerged that Carvalho sent another mass email a few weeks later, informing all staff that the firm was indeed in merger talks.