The merger of three law firms – Nabarro, CMS Cameron McKenna and Olswang – this week has prompted talks to take an extra 80,000 sq ft at Cannon Place, EC4, CMS’s current HQ.
The merger, which is due to take place on 1 May next year, will create a firm with 84 partners and 360 real estate lawyers, among 7,500 employees across 65 offices globally.
In London alone, the combined businesses occupy 385,000 sq ft. Following the extra space being taken in Cannon Place, sources suggested that a review of space at Nabarro’s and Olswang’s offices was likely. The two London offices are leased at below current market rents and should not be difficult to dispose of.
Nabarro occupies 116,000 sq ft in Alban Gate, EC2, at £45 per sq ft with a lease expiry in 2025, while Olswang occupies 129,000 sq ft at 90 High Holborn, WC1, at £45 per sq ft with a lease expiry in 2020.
Other mergers and cost-cutting measures have prompted some law firms to move staff out of London.
The extra space at Cannon Place will take CMS’s total occupation in the building to 220,000 sq ft.
A rent of close to £65 per sq ft has been agreed and it is understood the firm is considering signing a lease until 2038, when the lease on its existing 140,312 sq ft in the building expires.
The deal will take the building to full occupancy and, as a result it will be remarketed for £510m – a 4.25% yield – through Savills and CBRE.
A sale of Cannon Place by Hines to Taiwanese insurer Fubon collapsed in April.
The firms and their offices in the UK
NABARRO
Address: Alban Gate,
125 London Wall, EC2
Landlord: Blackstone
Occupancy: 116,175 sq ft
Rent: £45 per sq ft
Lease expiry: March 2025
• 44 partners
•170-plus real estate lawyers
•Acted on more than £15bn of transactions/schemes in 2015
•Ranked tier 1 for real estate in Legal 500 2016
• Key figures: Ciaran Carvalho, senior partner, real estate; Martin Evans, partner, head of planning group; Jennifer Rickard, head of the real estate dispute resolution team
OLSWANG
Address: 90 High Holborn, WC1
Landlord: PNB
Occupancy: 129,617 sq ft
(42,090 sq ft sublet or available)
Rent: £45 per sq ft
Lease expiry: September 2020
•11 partners
•22 real estate lawyers
•Ranked tier 3 in commercial property overall in Legal 500, and tier 2 in commercial property investment
•Key figures: Jonathan Lewis, partner and head of real estate group; Marcus Barclay, partner and head of real estate litigation team; Andrew Besser, head of real estate finance
CMS
Address: Cannon Place,
EC4
Landlord: Hines
Occupancy: 140,312 sq ft
Rent: £47 per sq ft
Lease expiry: July 2038
•29 partners
•170-plus real estate lawyers
•Ranked tier 1 for real estate in Scotland in Legal 500 and Chambers, and tier 2 for real estate in London in Legal 500
•Key figures: Mark Heighton, head of the CMS UK real estate team; Danielle Drummond-Brassington, head of real estate disputes; Ashley Damiral, head of planning
