UK partners give thumbs-up to US duo's merger bid in a deal set to forge 400-lawyer European network

The impending merger of New York duo Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae has been hailed by its London partners as a springboard for aggressive European growth.

The surprise merger deal, which was announced on 27 August, is set to give the merged practice a foothold in nearly every major European legal market.

Crucially, the proposed union appears to have won widespread backing from European partners at both firms who say that Dewey's M&A brand will complement LeBoeuf's top-tier energy and insurance business.

Likewise, the lack of duplication across the foreign network has won support for the deal, which is expected to go live in October creating a firm with revenues of nearly $1bn (£498m) under the banner Dewey & LeBoeuf, subject to a vote from partners.

The merged firm's European practice will house around 400 of the firm's 1,300 lawyers across offices in London, Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Rome and Warsaw. LeBoeuf also brings a further 35 lawyers in Russia.

The London arm holds much of the European practice with a combined headcount of 170. With around 40 coming from Dewey, the firms have opted to move into LeBoeuf's London home on Mincing Lane.

The move reunites Dewey's London arm with former capital markets head Camille Abousleiman, who left following the collapse of the firm's turbulent bid to merge with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, which fell through in January.

Ironically, it is understood that Abousleiman has been influential in getting his London partners to support the Dewey deal.

LeBoeuf will now hope to tap into Dewey's institutional links, which include Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Lloyds. Key LeBoeuf clients include Zurich, Shell and Scottish Re.

LeBoeuf London managing partner Peter Sharp told Legal Week: "The deal is a great fit in every respect. For example, there is very little overlap in the two firms' practices in London and it is very exciting for the LeBoeuf side to have capabilities in core markets such as Italy and Germany, where we were previously not present."

Another LeBoeuf partner commented: "It looks more like a New York play, but the spin-off is that while Dewey's London presence is quite small, it has an interesting portfolio of clients on the M&A and banking side and this could catapult us well up the league in the US and London. It is very exciting."

Additional reporting by Georgina Stanley.