Summary: McKenna Long & Aldridge has agreed to merge with Dentons.
McKenna Long & Aldridge has decided to merge with international mega-house Dentons. They made their vote Monday afternoon, and one partner reported it, though the firm hasn’t confirmed the merger.
This isn’t the first time a merger was in the works. In 2013, Dentons had approached McKenna with the same, and the equity partners who determine the move even had secured a two-thirds. Nevertheless they felt that “Making a big move like this requires more than a majority. We want to move together,” as chairman Jeff Haidet explained.
After all, since Denton runs under a Swiss verein structure, McKenna will lose its name when it joins Dentons.
It seems they’ve overcome their temerity, with this second vote, and are all on board with losing their name and joining the monolith that is the world’s biggest law firm. Dentons, after all, merged with Chinese firm Dacheng in January, boosting their head count from 2,368 lawyers to the current 6,400.
It’s been one merger after another for Dentons who now net a revenue of $1.275 billion as of 2014, compared to $341 million in 2013 for McKenna.
What’s left for the merger to conclude is a parallel vote in Dentons, which is probably a sure thing.