Dentons is starting the year with a bang. The global legal giant confirmed Thursday that it had struck a deal with a 45-lawyer banking and finance team from Matthew Arnold & Baldwin (MAB), a leading U.K. regional firm.

The mass lateral move is the first this year for 7,300-lawyer Dentons, which in 2015 made several notable acquisitions, as well as eight combinations around the world, including a landmark union with China's largest firm, Dacheng. The Dacheng deal became official in November, the same month that Dentons announced two more deals in Colombia and Mexico.

Joseph Andrew, Dentons' global chair, has said that the firm could reach 10,000 lawyers spanning 200 offices. Dentons' latest additions in the U.K., an 11-partner, 34-associate team from MAB co-led by Clare Stothard and Steven Mills, focuses on bank financial litigation and investigatory matters. The group, which will officially join Dentons on Feb. 1, will increase the firm's U.K. disputes practice to 37 partners and roughly 130 fee-earners, according to Dentons.