King & Wood Mallesons, one of the largest law firms in Asia, agreed to merge with SJ Berwin effective November 1. The agreement followed after the formation of King & Wood Mallesons from the merger of China's King & Wood and Australia's Mallesons' Stephen Jacques.

The integration of SJ Berwin will expand King & Wood's client reach into the Middle East and Europe. Though a smaller corporate and commercial firm, Berwin boasts more than 500 lawyers under management specializing in corporate and commercial law.

The combined firms will have a total revenue of around US$1.3 billion or GBP 855.9 million, placing the organisation among the top 25 in the world. After a transitional period, it will be re-introduced as King & Wood Mallesons.

The agreement between King & Wood Mallesons and SJ Berwin followed a series of cross-border law firm mergers including Norton Rose Fulbright, the product of Fulbright & Jaworski's merger with Norton Rose, in June. Consultancy Altman Weil reported in July that U.S. law firm merger initiatives in the first half of 2013 was the highest in five years.