CMS, NABARRO AND OLSWANG COMBINE TO CREATE 6TH LARGEST LAW FIRM...

CMS, NABARRO AND OLSWANG COMBINE TO CREATE 6TH LARGEST LAW FIRM IN THE UK AND 6TH LARGEST GLOBALLY
CREATING A DISTINCTIVE MODERN CITY POWERHOUSE DRIVEN BY TECHNOLOGY AND UNDERPINNED BY A 250 YEAR HERITAGE: DIFFERENTIATED BY WORLD-CLASS SECTOR EXPERTISE AND OUTSTANDING GLOBAL REACH
10 October 2016

The Partners of CMS UK, Nabarro and Olswang have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a proposal to combine their firms and create a new City powerhouse that will become the world’s sixth largest law firm by lawyer headcount1 and sixth largest in the UK by revenue2.

The merger, which is due to complete on 1 May 2017, will be the largest merger ever in the UK legal services market. Nabarro and Olswang will join the CMS UK LLP partnership, creating a modern firm that is uniquely positioned to provide clients a distinctive offering driven by technology and sector expertise underpinned by deep experience and heritage.

The new firm will trade as CMS, and the name of the UK LLP will be CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP. The new global sector law firm will be:

• Differentiated by world-class sector expertise: with leadership in the six sectors of Energy; Financial Services; Infrastructure & Projects; Lifesciences and Healthcare; Real Estate; and Technology, Media & Telecommunications.
• With outstanding global reach: serving 36 countries across 65 offices.
• Creating a distinctive, modern firm driven by technology: enhancing the way the new firm will work and the way it delivers innovative services to its clients.
• Underpinned by a 250 year heritage in the City of London and in Scotland.

CMS, Nabarro and Olswang have chosen the very best in class leaders in their respective sectors to develop this global, sector and client-led offering:

• CMS is Europe’s largest law firm, and a top 10 global firm with a long-standing heritage in the City and 60 offices around the world.
• Nabarro is a pioneering City law firm leading the market in the Real Estate sector and with an impressive reputation in Infrastructure, ECM, Funds and Healthcare.
• Olswang is an international law firm with an outstanding record in Technology, Media and Telecommunications and IP, with a commanding reputation in a wide range of other industries, from Real Estate and Retail to Life Sciences and Leisure.

Building on the CMS global platform, the new firm will be transformative, bringing together a world-class bench of nearly 2,500 lawyers in the UK3within a global team of over 4,500 lawyers to lead the rapidly changing legal market and meet the needs of clients in the City, the UK, Europe and internationally. Together the new firm will be uniquely positioned because of its sector experience, deep industry knowledge and expertise and international scale.

This merger will enhance the new firm’s leadership in the City, strengthen its position to grow further globally and meet the need of international clients who require advice and access to English law and English courts.

With the addition of Nabarro and Olswang, CMS will have over 1,000 partners and over 7,500 employees across 65 offices in 36 countries around the world, with combined revenues of circa £450 million in the UK and revenues well in excess of €1.2 billion globally.