Bristol-based international law firm Osborne Clarke and London firm Field Fisher Waterhouse have reached a decision not to pursue merger talks any further. They said the decision was made amicably, with both parties agreeing that the decision was based on the differences between the two firms’ operating models.
The merger would potentially have created a top 20 firm with revenues of nearly £200m.
Both Osborne Clarke and Field Fisher Waterhouse have strengths in IT and the creative industries. A link-up between the firms could have brought some of the London firm’s work to Bristol to save costs – with the by-product of strengthe
ning the city’s creative sector.
Osborne Clarke managing partner Simon Beswick said this afternoon: “We have a fairly similar vision of where we want to be and, between us, we have some great practices that could work well together. However, there are some differences in our approaches as to how we get there. The shared vision sparked the exploratory talks. In the end, though, we had to recognise that our approaches are too different to combine.
“One of the benefits of the talks is that they gave us the opportunity to build excellent relationships with the FFW team, particularly with Michael and Matthew, who are impressive and are clearly dedicated to the success of FFW. We wish them and the firm well.”
Field Fisher Waterhouse acting managing partner Michael Chissick said: “Although our firms have similar ambitions, they have a number of essential differences , including those between both firms' international structures. Those differences were marked enough to convince us that we would retain our core strengths better as separate firms.
“The process has been positive, both as a way of assessing internal strengths but also because of the strong relationships and friendships that have been formed between the two firms.”
