Marc Gericó makes his annual analysis of mergers and acquisitions in 2021

For the sixth consecutive year, our Managing Partner Marc Gericó takes a look at law firm mergers and acquisitions in 2021 for Expansión

What have been the most relevant mergers and acquisitions in 2021 among law firms? For the sixth consecutive year, our Managing Partner Marc Gericó analyzes them for Expansión.

During 2021 there have been ‘comings and goings’ of conversations between firms, but it has also been characterized by a low upturn in this type of operations, due to the persistent health crisis. This situation has changed the way people travel and work, directly influencing the pace – slower than other years – of mergers and acquisitions.

“What could have been and ultimately wasn’t” in mergers and acquisitions

As published by Fairfax Associates, 2021 has closed the year with 41 completed deals, plus five being executed in the first quarter of 2022. “This would be one more deal than the 40 recorded in 2020, though far from the 55 recorded on average over the last decade. Law firm merger activity remained stable in 2021 relative to 2020, but well below historical averages,” adds Gericó.

In 2020, 68% of mergers involved law firms with a number of lawyers between 5 and 20. However, this year, the figure has dropped to 63%.

In the case of Spain, Gericó believes that it continues to have a “highly segmented sector and that, globally, the trend will continue to be to try to concentrate efforts, with the aim of reducing unnecessary costs and, therefore, to compete better. If the macroeconomic context allows us to do so and we manage to leave pandemics and geopolitical wars behind, the sector is ready to resume the upward rally from 2019 levels in terms of mergers and integrations in the legal sector.”

Marc Gericó explains the situation in Spain, the UK, Latin America and the US in 2021 and sets out the keys for the coming months in Expansión.

If you want to read the full article in Expansión, click here.