Bloomberg Law: Siobhán Lewington on A&O Shearman, Now Official
It was just shy of a year ago when London-based Allen & Overy and New York-based Shearman & Sterling issued a press release announcing their plan to merge, sending the legal media into a tizzy. This was to be expected; the last tie-up between a Magic Circle and elite U.S. firm was in 2000, when Clifford Chance merged with Rogers & Wells.
American Lawyer Media publications, Law360 and Bloomberg Law published a combined 500-plus articles, and the London-focused legal press ran nearly 100 stories. Would the firms ultimately follow through, or get sidetracked by any of numerous potential obstacles along the way? Reporters breathlessly covered every partner exit - were such moves par for the course or a sign of trouble?
The verdict came May 1, when the now-fourth largest firm in the world declared: A&O Shearman merger successfully completed. Its new slogan: “Ready for anything. Anywhere.”
While journalists can take a deep breath, the stories will continue to come as industry watchers gage how the new firm, boasting $3.5 billion in annual revenue and 4,000 lawyers, is faring in a rapidly evolving legal landscape.
As Bloomberg Law reporter Mahira Dayal wrote, previous transatlantic mergers have proven difficult to pull off thanks to competing pay systems, cultures, and governance structures.
Asked by Dayal for her take, Macrae Partner Siobhán Lewingston stated, “The next two or three years are going to need a lot of care and attention around integration of the two firms.”
Dayal reported that all eyes will be on how well A&O Shearman performs in the U.S., a hot spot for M&A, private equity, and other deals work - and a notoriously difficult market for overseas firms to crack. Doing so will require carving out a larger private equity practice, but A&O Shearman’s private credit practice may help buoy it in the meantime.
Lewington agreed: “A&O’s private credit initiative led by [Stephen] Lloyd is something they are doing well and in a very organized and coordinated way.”
We encourage you to read the Bloomberg Law article in full here: A&O Shearman Launch Tests Firm’s Ability to Crack Big Law Elite.