Clyde & Co and BLM partners to vote on potential merger

Reading time: two minutes

A partner vote looks set to be the next stage in a potential merger between Clyde & Co LLP and BLM, following the completion of detailed discussions and due diligence last week.

Although no deal has been finalised, a BLM spokesperson believes that a “potential combination with Clyde & Co would provide us with the growth needed to develop our business”. The spokesperson added: “We are both dominant in risk and insurance and our respective businesses complement each other. While Clyde & Co is a global business, we both have an extremely strong presence in the insurance sector in the UK and Ireland. Clyde & Co also boasts a strong offering in business and advisory services.”

Clyde & Co mirrors BLM’s enthusiasm about the potential merger. A spokesperson for the global firm outlined the firm’s ambitions to grow and “provide the full scope of services, technology, data analytics and innovation that clients in this dynamic part of the insurance market require”. The spokesperson added: “We consider a merger such as this the best way to realise these ambitions. BLM is a firm we have long admired and we believe a merger can be formed on the basis of our complementary client rosters and our shared focus on quality.”

For the year ending 31 March 2021, Clyde & Co increased profit before tax by 14% to £162.5 million, according to the Law Gazette. Meanwhile, BLM increased profit before members’ remuneration, profit shares and tax by just over 20% to £11.1 million. Nearly 5,000 staff were employed between the two firms.

If the merger goes ahead, it would be one of the biggest mergers the UK’s legal sector will have seen, with the combined firm generating an annual turnover of around £733 million.