Merger gathers pace
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Shearman & Sterling have revealed where their UK and New York lawyers will be based once the mega-merger is finalised later this year.
A&O’s City office will take on Shearman’s UK team while A&O’s New York lawyers will move across to Shearman’s building on Lexington Avenue.
A&O’s London HQ is located at One Bishops’ Square, but is set to move to a significantly smaller premises at 2 Broadgate near Liverpool Street Station in 2027.
The firms first went public with their intentions to merge in May 2023, with more than 99% of partners going on to vote in favour of the move. The combination, set to complete in May of this year, will create a new legal giant with 3,950 lawyers, including 800 partners, across 48 offices and approximately £2.8 billion in combined revenues.
The new outfit will be called Allen Overy Shearman Sterling, or A&O Shearman for short.
“One of the exciting aspects of our combination is bringing our people together into a single office in each jurisdiction where we operate, which will accelerate our integration, foster collaboration and create powerful financial synergies on the real estate side,” the firms said in a joint statement.
It continued: “Whether we will be in the legacy Allen & Overy or legacy Shearman & Sterling space — or entirely new space — will vary by location, but we are pleased to confirm now that for our two largest offices, New York and London, we will be together. In New York, in Shearman’s current offices at 599 Lexington Avenue, which were transformed by a comprehensive and sustainable renovation recently, including state of the art conference and dining facilities for our clients and people. In London, in One Bishops Square — A&O’s current office with plans to move to a new and more sustainable office at 2 Broadgate on the Broadgate campus in the City of London by early 2027.
“We will be providing information on office integration in other cities in due course,” it added.
A&O currently recruits around 80 trainees each year year, with Shearman recruiting 12 or so annually in London. It’s not yet known what the total will be after the merger has gone live.
