Today marks a momentous occasion for our legal profession in Nigeria as Advocaat Law Practice and AOA Legal Advisers & Advocates announce the merger of both firms.
Advocaat Law Practice, a full-service commercial law firm, with offices in Lagos and Abuja, will merge with AOA Legal Advocates, a boutique firm with an enviable reputation in all aspects of commercial litigation and arbitration, media, and entertainment law. Both firms with their overlapping strengths will see the creation of a larger firm with a strong culture and a commitment to delivering excellence through innovative means for its clients.
The deal, structured as a merger will see the merged firm continue to trade as Advocaat Law Practice across 3 offices located in Abuja, Calabar, and Lagos serving the northern, south- eastern, south-south and south-western regions of Nigeria; providing clients with enhanced capabilities across practices and sectors, as well as the resources of a more expansive geographic platform.
The Managing Partner of Advocaat Law Practice, Ola Alokolaro sees the merger as “a natural fit which is a win-win, with both firms placing a high value on long-term relationships with clients and complementary practices that offer a unique value proposition for clients.” He added that “combining our capabilities and experience, provides the opportunity to reach for new heights and chart a new path for our ongoing success.”
Principal Partner of AOA Legal, Oladapo Ademola heralded the development as “two exciting and forward-thinking firms who pursued common values of constant innovation, client-focused service delivery, excellence as a goal, holistic employee welfare, development, and growth along very different but complementary paths, coming together to form a synergy that is stronger and more capable than the sum of its parts.”
We look forward to growing the new firm for the advantage of our clients and staff. We are very excited about the opportunities the merger will enable.
The merged firm will begin trading as a single entity with effect from November 2024 while integration and implementation continues toward the final closing of the transaction, which is anticipated to be on or before January 2025.