Pillsbury Winthrop is hunting for a merger with a major City law firm in a bid to launch the top 30 US firm onto the European stage.

Speaking to Legal Week in London this month, Pillsburys chair Mary Cranston said the firm was in the "enquiry" stages of its hunt for a merger with a London firm with an existing European network.

"We have a double strategy and will build up our London office with strong lateral hires alongside any merger plan," said Cranston. "We have had plenty of experience of mergers and are confident we know how to make them work."

The firm has viewed a European tie-up as a central strategic aim since the 2000 marriage between San Francisco's Pillsbury Madison & Sutro and Winthrop Stimson Putnam & Roberts of New York.

"We are not afraid of bold steps, which is in line with what we have done in the US. We would prefer a big firm with a European network as it would give us a strong international presence," added Cranston.

Cranston said Pillsburys was not currently in merger talks with a London firm, although it has a longstanding relationship with Denton Wilde Sapte and both firms have indicated interest in bolstering their referral links.

Pillsburys' European practice is currently limited to its five-lawyer London outpost. Despite having 12 offices in the US, it has only four abroad, in Sydney, Tokyo and Singapore as well as London. Its Hong Kong office closed earlier this year.

Plans for European expansion come despite a tough financial year for the firm which is heavily exposed to the battered US West Coast technology market through its San Francisco arm.

The firm has frozen US salaries and launched a voluntary redundancy programme that has contributed to the number of lawyers at the firm falling from 820 at the time of the merger to its current tally of 733.

Last year Pillsburys achieved revenues of $444m (£281m), with average partner profits of $500,000 (£316,626).