Dentons outlines bold plans for Asian expansion drive
Dentons is eyeing significant expansion in Asia through a five-part strategy which includes building up partners and joining with local outfits. The global firm, founded last year through a merger between SNR Denton, Fraser Milner Casgrain and Salans, is seeking to substantially bolster its revenues coming from the region.
January 23, 2014 at 01:38 AM
4 minute read
Dentons is eyeing significant expansion in Asia through a five-part strategy which includes building up partners and joining with local outfits.
The global firm, founded last year through a merger between SNR Denton, Fraser Milner Casgrain and Salans, is seeking to substantially bolster its revenues coming from the region.
"We are following an ambitious five part strategy in Asia, all of which we are doing at the same time," said Joe Andrew, the firm's global chairman.
"We believe that a significant percentage of our revenue in the future should be from Asia-Pacific. There is no reason that the percentage of Dentons' revenue should not be, over time, close to the percentage of the global legal spend that comes from each market in Asia."
Dentons currently has just 10 partners in Asia across four offices located in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The latter three bases were previously part of legacy SNR Denton's Asian network, whilst the Shanghai base is a combination of both Salans and SNR Denton offices in the city.
In the next two years, Andrew said the firm intends to make lateral partner hires in practices such as insurance, energy, corporate, real estate and disputes, whilst initiating conversations with local firms around the region about merger opportunities.
He said a key priority would be to form a strategic alliance or combination with a pan-Asian outfit that would give it coverage of non-China markets such as Vietnam and Taiwan, as well as to launch a tie-up with a mainland Chinese firm.
"We see many of these firms as talented, high quality, and in a good position to follow sophisticated Chinese clients around the globe," he said.
"Most of the criticism of the fast growing Chinese firms is simply wrong, based on old information, and the product of envy of their growth and success. We see them as equals and look forward to further conversations."
The firm also wants to have an on the ground presence in Japan, which it is mulling either by way of a merger or independent launch.
Legacy Denton Wilde Sapte, which combined with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in September 2010 to form SNR Denton, previously had a four-office network in Asia which included Tokyo, but this was closed in 2004 along with the other offices when the UK firm withdrew from the region.
"We would like to be the first global firm to have a strategic alliance or combination with a Japanese firm and to re-establish the brand of Dentons in Tokyo," said Andrew.
"Japan has always been an important global market but with the revitalisation of the Japanese economy, now is the right time to begin the search for strong Japanese partners."
The firm is additionally keen to approach the Australian market alongside its future Asia partners.
Andrew said the firm would again look to form a merger, and with one of the remaining independent Australian firms, which he believes may be open to new opportunities.
"Hand and hand with strong, independent firms in other Asian markets, we will together approach the Australian market.
"While most, but not all, of the strong Australian firms that wish to combine with global firms have done so, a global firm with strong Asian components would be a new option."
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