As we enter 2015, there can be no doubt that law firm mergers are something of a trend. From Germany to Australia, recent years have seen a whole spectrum of legal professionals band together to try and meet the needs of an increasingly global clientbase; employing varying different financial structures and integration tactics as they go.
But even with the merger craze of the last decade, the Dentons-Dacheng combination yesterday, which received partner approval two weeks ago, came as a shock to many. While some thought King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) – the first merger between a Chinese firm and a foreign outfit – might be alone in its aspirations for some time yet, (most Chinese firms still lagging behind their international counterparts in sophistication and management), Dacheng, the largest firm in the PRC but not quite making the domestic elite, might be seen as among the less likely candidates for such a deal.
