“It’s like Groundhog Day, isn’t it?” said one Theodore Goddard (TG) partner after observing the collapse last week of his firm’s talks with Salans Hertzfeld & Heilbronn. It is the fourth time this has happened in eight years and it is hard to dispute the feeling of deja vu.
Two years ago the firm dramatically called off a management-backed deal to merge with Richards Butler after the pair had continued talking following the collapse of tripartite talks with Denton Hall. A straw poll among the partnership indicated that it was not worth the executive forcing the deal.
