Minneapolis-based Faegre Baker Daniels and Philadelphia-based Drinker Biddle & Reath have been engaged in merger talks, both firms confirmed Wednesday night.

The combined firm would have nearly 1,200 lawyers and over 400 equity partners, according to data from ALM Intelligence. A merger would likely push the combined firm into the Am Law 50, based on both firms' financial performance last year.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Drinker Biddle and Faegre Baker said: "Drinker Biddle & Reath and Faegre Baker Daniels are in discussions but have nothing further to report at this time."

On the surface, the potential deal appears to be a merger of near-equals. Faegre, with more than 660 lawyers and gross revenue of $512.9 million in 2018, ranked No. 71 on the Am Law 100, and Drinker Biddle, with 530 lawyers and $449.7 million in gross revenue last year, was ranked No. 79.

Profits per equity partner for the two firms are quite close as well: Faegre reported PEP of $896,000 for 2018, and Drinker Biddle's PEP was $916,000.

The combined firm would have 22 offices. Both firms have offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. London was previously another area of overlap, but Drinker Biddle closed that office earlier this year.

According to publicly available website domain registration records, the domain name "FaegreDrinker.com" was registered Oct. 16.

Sources in Indianapolis and Minneapolis, the two cities hosting Faegre's largest offices, indicated that a vote hadn't taken place yet.

These sources indicated that the potential merger between the two firms was being frequently discussed by their competitors, with one source saying lawyers at seven different firms have called him to discuss the potential Faegre-Drinker merger.

Drinker Biddle has seen some significant departures in the last 18 months or so. First, a 14-lawyer group focused on life insurance and annuities, which made a move to another Philadelphia-based Am Law 100 firm, Cozen O'Connor, in April 2018.

Just a few months later, four Philadelphia partners and one San Francisco partner took their national class action defense practice to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

Dealmaker Robert Juelke left Drinker Biddle in April of this year, heading to the Philadelphia office of Hogan Lovells. And in September, eight more insurance transactions partners left Drinker Biddle to join McDermott Will & Emery in London and New York.

But the firm hasn't only suffered losses. In March it added 17 litigators from Carlton Fields, led by Washington-based James Jorden and Frank Burt.

Following the 2018 departures, Drinker Biddle reported lackluster financial results. Gross revenue was down 2.6% in 2018 from the year before, though revenue per lawyer was up thanks to decreased head count, and profits per equity partner dipped by 1.1%.

Faegre Baker was created by a merger between Minneapolis-based Faegre & Benson and Indianapolis-based Baker & Daniels.

Since its 2012 merger, Faegre has seen a tidal wave of law firms set up shop in Minneapolis. In 2019 alone, Greenberg Traurig, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr, and Spencer Fane all opened offices in the city. It's been a hotbed for mergers too. Most recently, the city saw one of its oldest local firms, Gray Plant Mooty, announce a merger with Kansas City-based Lathrop Gage. And Cincinnati-based Taft Stettinius & Hollister announced in August that it will be merging with Minneapolis-based Briggs and Morgan, creating a 600-person law firm starting Jan. 1.

Indianapolis has also seen its share of consolidation. Earlier this year, Dentons announced that it was planning to expand its U.S. presence by combining with regional law firms—one of its first announced combinations was with an Indianapolis-headquartered firm, Bingham Greenebaum Doll.

And it's a busy time for law firm mergers involving the Philadelphia market as well. Philadelphia-based Pepper Hamilton and Atlanta-headquartered Troutman Sanders confirmed Wednesday that they are also in merger talks.

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