Norton Rose takes chunk of German firm in merger

City firm Norton Rose has finally unveiled a merger with the Cologne office of the German firm Gaedertz and announced plans to open in Frankfurt and Munich.

The combined 180-partner, 15-office firm will be known worldwide as Norton Rose and in Germany as Norton Rose Vieregge.

The Cologne office is Gaedertz's most profitable office; it has 21 equity partners and 25 associates.

They specialise in corporate, intellectual property, litigation, labour law and property work.

New offices will shortly be opened in Frankfurt and Munich to be staffed by a blend of Norton Rose partners and German lateral hires.

It is expected that the merger will become effective on or before 1 July 2001 and the firm will be a fully merged partnership with full economic integration.Gaedertz is splitting up.

While originally Norton Rose was talking to the whole firm, the decision of the Hamburg office to link up instead with US firm Latham & Watkins has led to a re-evaluation by all the other offices.

Talks between the Frankfurt office and Norton Rose broke down recently while there are three other main offices in Berlin, Munich and Leipzig.

Matthias Kappus, the present managing partner of Gaedertz who will be Norton Rose's managing partner in Germany, said it was not likely that these would enter the Norton Rose fold.

'They all have other options in hand,' he said.

'We will separate as friends.'

Norton Rose said the merger reflects its strategic ambition to be a fully integrated, international law firm.

The merged firm 'will continue to expand in Europe', it said.

Neil Rose