Dentons is set to merge with Chilean firm Larrain Rencoret Urzua (LRU), expanding the international firm's growing footprint in Latin America.

LRU has a focus on projects and infrastructure, banking and finance and M&A, with particular specialisms in the mining and natural resources, and energy and projects, sectors.

The firm has 33 lawyers and nine partners, according to its website.

Dentons CEO Elliott Portnoy said: "We are growing faster in Latin America and the Caribbean – and with truly high-quality firms – than anyone has ever done before."

The firm has grown in the region in recent years, following a number of tie-ups since 2016.

That year, the firm established Dentons Cardenas & Cardenas in Colombia and also launched Dentons Munoz through a tie-up with Costa Rica-based firm Munoz Global – a move that gave the firm access to the Central American market and bases in Panama and Nicaragua.

Last year, the firm formed an alliance with Brazilian civil litigation firm Vella Pugliese Buosi Guidoni and launched in Mexico through a tie-up with local firm Lopez Velarde in Monterrey.

The deal with LRU is subject to regulatory requirements and, if approved by partners, will launch in the coming months.

Earlier this year, Dentons announced seven planned combinations with firms across Africa, Mauritius, the Caribbean, Indonesia and Malaysia.

If approved by partners, this will include tie-ups with Hamilton Harrison & Mathews in Kenya; Mardemootoo Solicitors and Balgobin Chambers in Mauritius; Dinner Martin in the Cayman Islands; Delany Law in the eastern Caribbean; Hanafiah Ponggawa & Partners in Indonesia; and Zain & Co in Malaysia.