Ashurst has agreed to merge with US firm Perkins Coie in a deal that will create one of the world’s 20 largest law firms by revenue – and the biggest US-UK combination since A&O’s tie-up with Shearman & Sterling.
The merged firm, to be called Ashurst Perkins Coie, is expected to bring in around $2.7 billion (£2.1 billion) in annual revenue and span 52 offices across 23 countries. Global leadership will be split between Ashurst’s Paul Jenkins and Perkins Coie’s Bill Malley as co-CEOs.
Once complete, the merger will rank Ashurst Perkins Coie among the world’s top 20 firms by revenue, a peer group that increasingly includes transatlantic combinations. Herbert Smith Freehills’ tie-up with Kramer Levin went live earlier this year, while A&O Shearman completed its merger in 2024.
The merger ends years of speculation about Ashurst’s US ambitions. The City firm, which famously was close to merging with Latham & Watkins and Fried Frank in the 2000s, has long been under pressure to find a meaningful foothold in the American market.
According to the Financial Times, the Ashurst-Perkins deal had been under discussion since February – a period disrupted by President Trump’s March executive order targeting Perkins for its past work representing Hilary Clinton. A federal judge later blocked the order as unconstitutional.
Read full article: https://www.nonbillable.co.uk/news/ashurst-perkins-coie-merger
