![]() ![]() The looming spectre of a messy ‘no-deal’ Brexit and fresh falls in sterling further strained a delicate situation, probably tipping it over the edge. The reason for the long delay was as much the scale and ambition of the merger as the inevitable complications of bringing 700 partners on side. Finally the resolution came on 2 September, with the pair announcing the end of the talks with the traditional noises about mutual respect. ![]() Since it emerged last spring that A&O was in merger talks with the Los Angeles-bred firm, there have been bare scraps of information, alongside alternating whispers the deal was/was not on. This article sits in the news leader slot of our latest issue, but when considering Allen & Overy (A&O) and its epic courtship of O’Melveny & Myers, the defining factor has been the absence of news. Continue reading “Comment: After their lost decade, the current crisis should see the Magic Circle back on world-beating form” The Global 100 debate – Decision time They remained successful institutions but the swagger was gone, the myth of invincibility lost. In law, the most visible result of this was the end of the startling 25-year success story of the Magic Circle, closing the period in which the group had blazed a trail across the global market and become utterly dominant in their core European and Asian heartlands.Īfter the banking crisis, growth slowed, ground was ceded to US rivals, and even some mid-tier rivals, and the group lost much of the strategic daring that defined their remarkable ascent. We now know that for the profession and the City, the banking crisis proved very much in the latter camp. Sometimes, the jolt marks a genuine crack in the foundations underpinning industries, business and society. Sometimes a shock looks certain to leave life forever changed only for things to carry on much as normal. ![]()
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