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Risk Management Focus

07 February 2008 / Simon Young
Issue: 7307 / Categories: Features , Company , Competition , Commercial
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Merging Firms, Benefits, Cultural Fit

I see the firm next door is merging. There seems to be a rash of mergers about. Are we going to have to go that route?

I don’t think you absolutely have to go that way, but I’d be surprised if you were not at least thinking of what the options might be. But before you even consider it, you need to consider where a merger might fit into your strategy, or where it might indeed endanger it.
 
But surely it’s just a question of getting two firms which are roughly the same, and putting them together, isn’t it?
Not at all. That might give you a real problem. Putting it simply, what do you get if you put two small firms together that are not very good? A larger firm that is definitely no good!
 
So how should we approach it?
You’ve got to identify what you want out of the deal. Are you, for instance, seeking simply an increase
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

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