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CMS continues to deliver on merger success with premises disposals

13 November 2017

CMS has completed the disposal to Lloyds Bank plc of the entirety of its 120,000sqft of space at 125 London Wall. Located in the City of London, 125 London Wall was formerly occupied by legacy firm Nabarro, prior to its combination with CMS and Olswang on 1 May 2017. Nabarro moved into the iconic Farrell designed building in 2015 following an extensive refurbishment by its landlord and a bespoke fit out that created a state-of-the- art office environment across seven floors, with striking client facilities and entertainment space on floors 17 and 18, which were shortlisted for a number of architectural awards.

CMS is also pleased to announce that it has successfully sub-let the majority of its 91,000sqft of space at 90 High Holborn. Since 2002 the building was occupied by legacy firm Olswang and the building is widely considered to be the landmark building in Holborn. Underlettings for the remainder of the lease term have been secured to subtenants including UCL and Quinn Emmanuel. Only one floor remains to be disposed of and there is positive interest in that as well.

Whilst the financial terms of these transactions are confidential, CMS will have no ongoing financial obligations in relation to the spaces disposed of.

The closing of these deals forms part of the merger rationalisation and ongoing improvement plans, which includes recent investment in new state-of-the-art office accommodation in Dubai and Singapore, bringing staff previously housed in separate offices together under one roof. These latest moves complete the bringing together of all employees across CMS; the majority having been brought together within the first two weeks of the merger.

In Dubai, the firm moved to its new home at the Burj Daman in the DIFC in October, firmly positioning it in the heart of the business community, while in Singapore the 28-lawyer team moved to a new location in Marina One, a premium complex in the centre of Singapore's new Marina Bay financial district. Further improvements include a major refurbishment of the firm’s Edinburgh office, due to complete in early 2018, the recent opening of a new office in Bratislava and the move to new accommodation in Poznan.

Stephen Millar, Managing Partner for CMS UK comments, “Six months on from the completion of our merger, we have achieved a phenomenal amount together and continue to deliver on a number of strategic objectives, including the rationalisation and upgrade of our property portfolio. It is a remarkable achievement to complete such an extensive amount of rationalisation and improvement in this short space of time, and a credit to the teams involved who have worked hard to deliver this project on time and well within budget.

“Looking ahead, the business is performing strongly across all sectors and all sorts of new opportunities are emerging which bodes extremely well for now and the future.”