Law firms Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan said on Thursday that they have ended discussions about a possible merger.
Pillsbury said in a statement that it considered options including a combination and an acquisition of a group of Stroock lawyers, but “ultimately determined that we could not reach an agreement that adequately balanced Pillsbury’s long-term strategic objectives with the more immediate financial and other risks involved.”
A Stroock spokesperson on Thursday confirmed the talks with Pillsbury are over.
“Given our current options, after careful consideration we also concluded that a Pillsbury-Stroock combination was not the right path for us,” the spokesperson said.
The two New York-founded law firms had said last month that they were in discussions. Pillsbury has more than 700 lawyers in about 20 offices globally, according to its website. Stroock, which has four U.S. offices, currently lists about 150 lawyers on its website.
The end of talks with Pillsbury comes just a few months after Stroock’s discussions with Boston-founded firm Nixon Peabody fizzled in July.
Stroock has reportedly been in merger discussions with other firms since at least last year, when a group of more than 40 restructuring lawyers left to join rival Paul Hastings. Other teams of Stroock lawyers have departed since this spring to competitor law firms.
Stroock was able remove a potential merger roadblock in August by securing necessary votes for a complete buyout of its pension obligations.
