Bird & Bird is set to enter the Finnish legal market after securing a merger with Helsinki-based Fennica Attorneys.
The top 20 City firm announced today (12 March) that Fennica will come under the Bird & Bird banner from 1 May. Fennica currently has 33 lawyers, including 10 partners, and focuses on sectors including IT and communications.
Bird & Bird joins White & Case as one of the few international law firms to have a presence in Finland.
The move comes seven years after Bird & Bird made its debut in Scandinavia by launching an office in Stockholm. Last year the firm strengthened its Swedish arm with the hire of Linklaters’ former local head of litigation, Henrik Bielenstein.
Bird & Bird chief executive David Kerr commented: “We see this merger as the latest step in our continued expansion into new markets. [It] gives us a very strong footprint in the Nordic region and provides an ideal platform to exploit the strong trading links between Sweden and Finland.
“The Fennica brand is very strong [and] makes for a compelling proposition for clients, potential clients and recruits.”
Fennica managing partner Jori Taipale said: “Not only will our international capability now cover many major economic business centres across Europe, as well as the growing Chinese market, but – importantly – our people will also benefit from the opportunity to further develop their own professional skills.”
The deal comes after Finnish firms Juridia and Heinonen & Co confirmed that they are to merge with effect from 1 April, with the combined firm practising under the Juridia banner.
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This move surely makes a whole lot of sense as far as Fennica is concerned. New possibilities for growth, major marketing and recruitment advantages, and last but not least: the merger is carried out so that all partners of Fennica will become full partners of the Bird & Bird global partnership (as opposed the the Helsinki outfit of White & Case, where I believe only the MP is a partner of the LLP, whereas the others are "only" partners of the Finnish subsidiary).
However, I don't think this move will benefit Bird & Bird as much. Considering how competetivie the Finnish market is and that the firm already has a strong presence in Sweden, I fail to see the advantages of entering the Finnish market.
All in all, in a highly competetive market like Finnish one, shake-ups like this are always welcome and, In my opinion, also necessary so that the other major firms are constantly forced to rethink their strategy and position.
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