Bird & Bird has signed an exclusive cooperation agreement with Australian law firm Truman Hoyle as the firm targets growth in the much-coveted Asia-Pacific region.

The Sydney-based firm, which has 30 lawyers specialising in telecoms, technology, media, ecommerce, music, leisure, travel, advertising and biotechnology industries, will now jointly market its services with Bird & Bird.

It is understood that the co-operation deal could potentially lead to a full merger in future. Bird & Bird is currently gearing up to merge with its Danish ally Bender von Haller Dragsted (BvHD) after entering into a strategic cooperation agreement at the start of 2012.

Bird & Bird CEO David Kerr said: "Bird & Bird and Truman Hoyle share a clear cultural fit and compatibility in their technology, media and telecoms (TMT) sector focus. We are deeply impressed by the calibre of both the lawyers and clients at Truman Hoyle.

"It makes sense for us to formalise an agreement in Australia. It is one of the top 10 largest knowledge economies in the world and we already work for clients in most of the world's top economies."

Bird & Bird last November reported a double-digit increase in half-year revenues, with Asia cited by Kerr as having seen the strongest growth, with a 25% headcount increase in the first six months of the 2012-13 financial year. The firm has set a target for Asia to account for one fifth of total revenue and lawyer headcount in three to five years' time.

Bird & Bird's merger with Denmark's BvHD will go live on 1 May, with the move set to expand the firm's offering in the north European IT and media sectors. BvHD specialises in IT, intellectual property and matters relating to start-up companies.

Over the last two years Bird & Bird has also secured alliance deals in Morocco and Tunisia.

A raft of UK and international law firms have made moves into the Australia market in recent years, including Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, K&L Gates and Clyde & Co.

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