CMS has sealed deals to offload all of the surplus office space it acquired in last year's merger with Nabarro and Olswang, with its remaining interest in legacy Olswang's 90 High Holborn base transferred back to the freeholder.

Last May's three-way merger saddled CMS with surplus space in London, Singapore and Dubai, and while the disposal of legacy Nabarro's London base to Lloyds Banking Group in November last year was a straightforward deal, the disposal of Olswang's 91,000 sq ft City HQ has proved to be more complex.

In a series of sub-lets starting in May last year, US law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan took on 24,909 sq ft of space in the building, while in August, University College London (UCL) signed up to 48,548 sq ft on the first and second floors for a reported £52.50 per square foot on a lease that ends in March 2022. Quinn subsequently took on an additional 14,180 sq ft in February this year.

CMS has now reached an agreement with the landlord to surrender the remaining space in the High Holborn building, which earlier this year was acquired by property and technology company LabTech. The firm said it has now completed the disposal of £132m in total liabilities for all of the excess premises resulting from the merger.

A CMS spokesperson said: "We have now completed deals to exit all of the premises, resulting in a very significant saving on the original liability and better than what was modelled in the merger business case."

Ahead of last year's merger, Nabarro and Olswang agreed to move into CMS's Cannon Place headquarters, with the three firms signing a lease to take two extra floors in the building.

CMS first moved into its Cannon Place in 2015, after signing a 25-year lease in 2013 to occupy 140,000 sq ft across three floors. At the time, it negotiated a six-year rent-free period as part of the deal.

The firm had previously planned to take up 200,000 sq ft in Hammerson's Principal Place skyscraper when the lease at its former office at Mitre House expired, but pulled out of discussions while the City tower was still under development in 2012, due to market uncertainty.

CMS declined to comment on the Singapore and Dubai sales.