Dentons, the world’s largest law firm by headcount, is understood to making a strategic play to knock Chinese rival firm King & Wood Mallesons out of the London market via a takeover of the verein’s UK and EUME arm. Following on from Dentons’ merger with Chinese giant Dacheng in 2015, absorbing KWM Europe would give the megafirm a considerable competitive advantage in London and Europe.

An ‘impressive’ team

Dentons global chair Joe Andrew has declined to confirm the merger negotiations: ‘While we would never comment on whether we are in combination conversations or not with any firm, we admire the many UK/European partners of KWM that our partners work with regularly and believe this is a very high-quality group of impressive lawyers,’ he said.  

Firm in crisis

News of the potential combination comes at a critical moment for KWM Europe. In September, a four-partner walk-out from the firm halted a planned £14m recapitalisation effort, leaving the European partnership staring down around £30m worth of debt. A bailout offer later extended by the verein’s Asia partners, which was conditional upon a successful capital raising and 12-month lock-ins for many partners, failed to win favour with any more than 20 per cent of the European partnership, well shy of the 60 per cent approval threshold. In a statement, KWM Europe said it would consider ‘a range of strategic options’ going forward, including a potential tie-up.

Sources: Legal Business; Legal Week