Dentons and Chinese firm Dacheng Law Offices are on the cusp of finalising a merger with Australian firm Gadens and Rodyk & Davidson, Singapore’s oldest firm.

Partners at the firms are expected to vote on the merger later this month. If approved, the combination would create a firm with more than 7,000 lawyers across 125 offices worldwide, with more than 500 lawyers in Australia and 200 in Singapore.

The proposed combination, which closely follows Dentons’ merger agreements with Dacheng in January and U.S. firm McKenna Long & Aldridge in April this year, would strengthen the firms’ global legal service offering, particularly in the Asia Pacific region. 

The merger would also help the firms benefit from a number of economic initiatives that have surfaced in the region, including the recently sealed free trade agreement between Australia and China, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ policy, and the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community (read our report on the AEC here).

“This combination is about capturing talent for the benefit of our clients, and doing so in a way that complements the polycentric approach and innovative spirit on which our firm was built,” said Elliott Portnoy, Dentons’ global chief executive officer, in a statement.

“In [Rodyk & Davidson and Gadens] we recognise a similar ambition to bring clients more, to challenge the accepted and to add value in everything we do.”

“China has continued to steadily expand its economic and trade relationships with both Australia and Singapore,” said Jinquan Xiao, senior partner and head of the supervising committee at Dacheng.

“Gadens and Rodyk offer the experience and quality our clients want in these markets that will only continue to grow in importance in China and beyond.”

If the merger is approved, the new firm’s name will be ‘Dentons’ in English and all other languages, and 大成in Chinese.