Ashurst and Perkins Coie agree transatlantic law firm merger

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British law firm Ashurst and US-based Perkins Coie have agreed a merger that would create one of the world’s 20 largest law firms by revenue, in the latest in a series of big transatlantic tie-ups in the industry.

The combined firm will be known as Ashurst Perkins Coie and is expected to have annual revenues of about $2.7 billion, making it the largest U.S.-British law firm since magic circle group Allen & Overy agreed to merge with New York firm Shearman & Sterling in 2023.

The deal, under discussion since February, was agreed upon despite President Donald Trump’s move to target Perkins Coie in March with an executive order that a judge said posed an “existential risk to Perkins Coie.” [the law firm’s] Financial solvency.

They are part of a wave of international mergers, including the A&O Shearman deal and the merger of Herbert Smith Freehills and Kramer Levin, as the firms try to grow their size and keep up with an elite group of global law firms that generate billions of dollars in revenue and have a presence around the world.

“Our customers have been asking us for it [a] “We have a depth of capability in the US that we don’t have at the moment,” Paul Jenkins, Ashurst’s chief executive, told the Financial Times.

Bill Maley, Perkins Coie’s managing partner, said the company’s clients have needs that “cross borders” and that the tie-up will help it meet those needs.

Maley and Jenkins will be global co-CEOs following the merger, which the two companies aim to complete next year. Ashurst Perkins Coie will be led by Karen Davies, President of Ashurst, and Brian Eiting, Co-Chairman of Perkins Coie.

Trump issued an executive order in March that criticized Perkins Coie for representing Hillary Clinton and threatened to suspend its employees’ security clearances and force it to review its government contracts.

Perkins Coie won a legal challenge over the order, which has now been blocked, but the Justice Department said it would appeal.

Maley said the two companies had been discussing a potential merger since February, shortly before Trump targeted Perkins Coie.

“When the executive order was issued, we immediately agreed that these discussions would continue,” Maley said.

Jenkins said talks continued because of the “deep relationship and trust” between the couple and because the merger was for the long term.

Being a much larger firm would make it easier to hire technology specialists who can help lawyers make better use of artificial intelligence in their work, Maley said. He said the firm’s client work would focus on technology, energy, infrastructure and financial services, including advising on the energy infrastructure behind artificial intelligence.

Maley said that Ashurst and Perkins Coie’s revenues amounted to about $1.3 billion.

“In all respects so [the merger] “The two companies will be 50-50,” Jenkins said, including membership of the combined company’s leadership team and board of directors. He added that the two companies will be fully integrated and will combine profits.

A&O Shearman reported revenue of $3.7 billion for the year ended last April, and HSF Kramer said in June that its revenue exceeded $2 billion.

Maley said that the company will not have a single headquarters, but rather will have “hubs” in Seattle, London, Sydney and New York. Ashurst hooked up with Australian Blake Dawson more than a decade ago.

The combined entity will include 3,000 lawyers in 52 offices in 23 countries.