Lovells eyes global top 10 spot with US tie-up

11 April 2012

City law firm Lovells is in talks to merge with US group Hogan & Hartson.

A tie-up would create one of the top 10 firms globally, with revenue of £1.1 billion and a total of about 2500 lawyers.

It would be the largest merger in the sector in almost five years.

If both partnerships give their support to a deal, it is expected a merger would take place before the end of Lovell's financial year next April.

Lovells said in a statement: "We review our US strategy on a regular basis and we have recently been taking a closer look at market developments and the opportunities that we believe are available to us."

Lovells, whose London office is on Holborn Viaduct, posted an 11% drop in partners' profits last year — a better performance than most of its mid-tier rivals.

Hogan is the 22nd-largest law firm in the US, and is based in Washington DC.

Legal experts say that the merged firm would have particular strength in intellectual property, life sciences work and regulation.