LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - UK-based law firm Eversheds is inmerger talks with U.S. peer Sutherland Asbill & Brennan in thelatest attempt by the British firm to secure a U.S. tie-up.
The two firms' partners are due to vote on a proposal beforethe end of the year to create a combined firm, called EvershedsSutherland, which would employ 2,300 lawyers across 61 officesin 29 countries, Eversheds said on Tuesday.
Eversheds' Chief Executive Bryan Hughes outlined plans in2012 to become a "global leader" by 2020, partly to better servethe global needs of clients, and the firm has been openly keento clinch a U.S. merger over the last two years.
But talks with U.S.-based Foley & Lardner broke off lastyear.
"Joining forces with Sutherland will give each firm'sclients a global platform and we will be discussing the proposalwith our partners positively in the coming weeks," Hughes saidon Tuesday.
Eversheds, built up over the last 20 years from small,national practices, has a core practice area that includes realestate, company commercial law and consulting. Sutherland,established in 1924 as a tax firm, also focuses on areas such asenergy, financial services, intellectual property andlitigation.
Profit per equity partner at the two firms is similar.Eversheds, which has more than 500 partners and almost 2,000lawyers, had a revenue of 406 million pounds ($507 million) inthe last year, while profits per equity partner (PEP) came in at742,000 pounds.
Atlanta-based Sutherland, which also has offices in Austin,Houston, New York, Sacramento, California and Washington DC andemploys 170 partners and more than 200 additional lawyers, had a revenue of $300 million in 2015 and equity partners earned justover $1 million.
The profitability falls short of that at London's "magiccircle" of top law firms, such as Freshfields BruckhausDeringer, Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy, where equitypartners earned between 1.2 million and 1.47 million pounds($1.5-1.84 million) last year. A record 11 law firms reported anaverage PEP of 1 million pounds for last year.
Eversheds said the new firm would be overseen by a globalboard with equal representation from both legal practices. Thetwo firms said it would be inappropriate to comment further atthis stage of discussions. ($1 = 0.8001 pounds) (Reporting by Kirstin Ridley; Editing by Greg Mahlich)