Bar Talk
Announcements of Ogilvy Renault LLP's merger with Britain's Norton Rose this week boast that the newly formed global firm will have a presence on five continents, including "the Americas." It does not mention that, at the moment, the London-based firm lacks an office in that little country called the United States.
Stephen Parrish, chairman of the Norton Rose Group, addressed the question during Monday's conference call announcing the Ogilvy deal, saying a U.S. branch is a key objective: "We're not quite there yet. But that is an important piece of the jigsaw as far as we're concerned if we want to be regarded as a truly international law firm. We've been of the view that we wanted to get other pieces of the jigsaw in place first, before taking on the U.S."
One well-placed observer says that if the new firm's U.S. plan were to involve a merger with an existing American firm, it could pose some problems for Ogilvy. Ogilvy Renault has a cozy relationship with the massive U.S. firm Jones Day, with whom it shares blue-chip client Bombardier Inc. Merging with a U.S. competitor could create conflicts-of-interest that would harm this relationship.
But at least Ogilvy now has a seat at Norton Rose's executive table and a say on any future U.S. deal.
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