International firms Shearman & Sterling and Hogan Lovells have neither confirmed nor denied rumours that the two are in early-stage merger talks.

A merger of the two firms would be one of the biggest in recent years, creating a $3.6bn (£3.43bn) practice - comfortably inside the global top five.

A spokeswoman for Shearman & Sterling said: ‘We continuously consider the various levers of growth that are accessible to us as part of our strategic planning process. These include both internal and external opportunities that would benefit our firm and our clients. Beyond that, we never comment on market rumors or speculation.’

A Hogan Lovells spokeswoman said: 'As a leading global law firm we regularly review our global strategy and opportunites that we believe may be available to us, and that includes discussions with different firms in the market. This demonstrates our confidence in our unique offering and our balance of practice areas, global footprint and sector strength.'

Hogan Lovells entered the global top 10 following the merger between US firm Hogan & Hartson and City firm Lovells in 2010. It boasts some 2,800 lawyers and announced record gains in its 2021 fiscal year, reachin $2.61bn in total global revenue.

Shearman & Sterling has over 850 lawyers around the world and reported $1.01bn in gross revenue in 2021, its best finanical year on record.

 

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