Simmons & Simmons has informed its partners that it is discussing a merger with Mayer Brown.

Senior partner David Dickinson (pictured) confirmed the talks in an email to the partnership last night (17 June), which stated that the two firms are in "preliminary discussions" about a merger.

The note also said that the partners will be informed further about the talks next week. It has been added as a point to the agenda of a scheduled partner meeting due to take place next Friday (25 June), at which other topics will include the voting on this year's new partner promotions.

One Simmons partner said: "I don't think that Mayer Brown's London office is very impressive, but it's very exciting that we are talking to a large international firm. We could do with a US presence and a boost in Asia. It could possibly be a good move.

"The only two concerns are what we would do with their London office and that you are not in the driving seat when you're merging with a much larger firm."

Simmons has yet to announce its 2009-10 financial results but revenue and profits are understood to be down on the previous year's turnover figure of £291.3m and profits per equity partner (PEP) of £520,000.

Mayer Brown's 2009 financial results revealed that revenues at the firm had fallen by almost 14% over the year, with the firm's top line slipping to $1.12bn (£723m) from $1.29bn (£833m).

The Chicago-based firm's London office also posted a double-digit decline in revenues, with turnover falling by 16% to £93.8m from £111.6m in 2008, while PEP fell 4.5% in 2009 to $1.06m (£717,000).

The news comes after City rival Denton Wilde Sapte's partners approved a merger with US firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal last week (9 June) which will go live in September, while the transatlantic merger creating Hogan Lovells went live last month (1 May).