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 headcount  and sixth largest in the UK by revenue. 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. 

Six sectors

The new firm will trade as CMS and the name of the UK LLP will be CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP. The firm will focus on six sectors- Energy, Financial Services, Infrastructure & Projects,  Life Sciences and Healthcare,  Real Estate and Technology, Media & Telecommunications. It will have 65 offices across 36 countries and nearly 2,500 lawyers in the UK  within a global team of over 4,500 lawyers. With the addition of Nabarro and Olswang, CMS will have over 1,000 partners and over 7,500 employees - with combined revenues of circa £450 million in the UK and revenues well in excess of €1.2 billion globally.

'Important merger'

Penelope Warne, senior partner for CMS UK commented: 'This is an important merger for our clients and for our people. For our clients we want to be a firm that delivers excellence, industry knowledge, thought leadership, and the exceptional talent that will help to meet their needs in a complex and changing business environment. And for our people, we want to be a firm that is dynamic, progressive, technology-led, with a good culture which supports diversity and inclusion and all aspects of our colleagues’ careers. We believe that if we can deliver on this vision we will be an even more successful, world-class firm.' 

Background

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 specialises in the Real Estate sector whilst  Olswang is best known for its Technology, Media and Telecommunications and IP practice.