Holland & Knight in merger talks to create 1,600-lawyer firm; does it portend 'next wave' of mergers?
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Holland & Knight and Thompson & Knight are discussing a merger that could close this summer, the law firms announced Friday.
The combined firm would have about 1,600 lawyers in 30 offices, report Reuters Legal, Bloomberg Law and Law.com.
Thompson & Knight is the smaller firm with about 300 lawyers. Combined revenues would be more than $1.2 billion, putting the merged firm close to the nation’s top 25 law firms.
Law firm management consultant Kent Zimmermann of the Zeughauser Group said Thompson & Knight has been courted as a merger partner for many years, partly because of its “crown jewel” oil and gas practice, according to Law.com.
But Thompson & Knight would benefit from the larger platform following a slower 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a softened oil and gas market, and competition for talent amid an influx of larger firms in its Texas market, Zimmerman told Law.com.
The potential merger is one of the largest announced this year, according to Bloomberg Law. The publication noted an Altman Weil report last week that said 26 law firm mergers have been announced so far this year, a pace that would beat last year’s 65 mergers.
Lisa Smith, a principal at law firm consultancy Fairfax Associates, told Reuters Legal that she expects to see more significant merger announcements in the months ahead.
“I think this is the beginning of the next wave,” Smith said.
