Business of Law Firms​

BDB Pitmans and WBD announce potential merger​

By Jake Rickman​

What do you need to know this week?

Welcome to the 17th article in TCLA’s series on the Business of Law Firms.
This week we will look at an exciting bit of news: Roll on Friday was the first to report last Thursday that law firms BDB Pitmans and Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) have entered into negotiations to potentially merge the two firms.

If the deal completes, according to The Lawyer, the tie-up will create a firm that brings in £440m a year.

As reported by Law.com, WBD’s 2022 global turnover is $520m (£460m). Of this, according to Companies House filings, £115m comes from the firm’s UK operations.

BDB Pitmans reported that its revenue for the year ended May 2021 was nearly £55m.

Why is this important for your interviews?

If this deal completes, it will likely be the largest law firm merger of 2022. It is therefore likely that other firms will be watching this deal closely, as its success could spur other mergers in the future.

From an interview perspective, it might be helpful to consider some of the primary motivators underpinning the discussions, as doing so in an interview will demonstrate your understanding of the key drivers of law firms as a business.

Both firms owe their current existence to previous mergers. BDB Pitmans was formed following the 2018 merger between Pitmans and Bircham Dyson Bell.

Prior to 2017, Bond Dickinson (as it was known before) grew through a series of regional mergers that helped the firm establish itself as one of the strongest regional firms in the country. In 2017, North Carolina law firm Womble Carlyle merged with Bond Dickinson to create Womble Bond Dickinson. As part of the strategy following the merger, the newly constituted firm announced it would opportunistically entertain domestic mergers. Shortly thereafter, WBD acquired an intellectual property Californian boutique.

Should the merger between BDB Pitmans and WBD come off, it would no doubt be a continuation of WBD’s growth-by-acquisition strategy.

Further Considerations

From the perspective of BDB Pitmans, a merger with the transatlantic WBD would mean the firm’s current equity partners can tie their fortunes to a firm with more diverse revenue streams from outside the UK. This is particularly advantageous given the UK economy’s underperformance relative to other domestic markets.

Looking at the merits of the deal from WBD’s vantage, the merger will essentially grow the firm’s UK market share by 50% in terms of revenue and consolidate both firms’ position in the regional market.

Additionally, both firms are already established in their respective jurisdictions, which means the merger will not entail significant regulatory risks and expenses.

From a more general perspective, this strategy demonstrates the advantages of growth via mergers, rather than organic expansion. Both firms’ respective equity partners gain the immediate benefit of the other’s client books and associated goodwill. It also differs from the strategy pursued by other US firms, which tends to focus on boosting their London presence rather than in the regions. For instance, as Roll on Friday observes, it would be the only firm in the world with a presence in both Plymouth and Silicon Valley.