Wilde Sapte has been linked to Herbert Smith in its search for a merger partner. But a spokesman for Herbert Smith said the firms were not in talks.
Wilde Sapte has been openly looking for a merger partner since the breakdown of its talks with Arthur Andersen last May. Andersens pulled out after the unexpected departures of asset finance partners David Smith, Graham Smith and Mario Jacovides.
A Wilde Sapte spokesman said: "Clients say that we are doing tremendous work, but they don't have the confidence in our critical mass internationally." He added that to retain its client base and build on it the firm would need to do a deal.
The spokesman, who would not comment directly on any merger talks, said: "We are in discussions with a number of organisations. The driver for us is to be a part of a global firm and this can be done in either one step or a number of steps."
"The first deal may not take us into a global brand, but may be a sensible building block."