A major global law firm Allen & Overy are opening shop in Australia. The move to open this Australian practice had been about 10 years in the planning.
It was based on confidence in the economic prospects of Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. "If you look forward about 10 years, this region is where the economic growth is going to be," he said. "The importance of Australia in the global economy is clearly increasing." The arrival of Allen & Overy comes just weeks after another global firm, Norton Rose, finalised its merger with Australia's Deacons.
The move by Allen & Overy was described last night as "masterful" by law firm consultant George Beaton, who predicted it would result in the creation of a firm with extremely high profitability. "They have created a firm with critical mass overnight."
Dr Beaton said Allen & Overy had "picked the eyes" out of the most profitable practice areas and was likely to have a profit margin approaching 50 per cent.
Allen & Overy's core practice areas will be energy, mining and natural resources; finance; infrastructure; investment funds; mergers and acquisitions; private equity; tax; and telecoms, media and technology.
Take note Australian entrepreneurs, this is the areas of Australian investment to get into. Such world companies do not make such major moves with out great investigation and deliberation.
