Dentons has combined with Adepetun, Caxton-Martins, Agbor & Segun (ACAS-Law), a Nigerian law firm, giving the firm a presence in the key locations of Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

“The combination with ACAS-Law builds upon our strategy to become the leading Pan-African law firm owned and controlled by Africans and located in key markets,” said Elliott Portnoy, Global CEO of Dentons.

“Nigeria, as Africa's leading economy, is a priority market for our clients. Combining with ACAS-Law, with whom we have shared years of significant collaboration, will allow us to connect clients to leading talent in Nigeria and to more than 19,000 people around the globe."

This historic combination - the first of its kind in Nigeria - marks the zenith of a solid and longstanding partnership between the two firms, culminating in the world's largest law firm serving Africa's leading economy.

ACAS-Law and Dentons have served clients collaboratively for many years, in sectors such as Energy, TMT and Banking and Finance.

Dentons' combination with ACAS-Law would further advance Dentons’ strategy to become the leading Pan-African law firm owned and controlled by Africans and position Dentons as the only global law firm in Nigeria from launch.

"Dentons' distinctly anti-colonial approach continues to disrupt the traditional model for providing legal services in Africa - combining with one of Nigeria's leading law firms will allow Dentons to serve Africa's largest economy, and is a distinctive example of our polycentric approach", said Joe Andrew, Global Chairman of Dentons."

“As we enter the New Dynamic Decade, our clients will continue to be confronted with constant, accelerated change and this combination with ACAS-Law - with a presence across three key locations in Nigeria - positions Dentons to help clients thrive."

ACAS-Law has seven partners and 52 lawyers. It is 60% female owned and led by a female Managing Partner. ACAS-Law is highly recognized in the market in Corporate and Commercial, Energy, Project Finance, Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property, and Tax, with numerous rankings across these practices.

The combination would lead to significant synergies in light of Dentons' strengths in each of these areas.

"Dentons' strategy is focused on finding combination firms who have the proven ability to offer sophisticated, high-quality legal services and business solutions in their home markets," said Noor Kapdi, CEO of Dentons’ Africa Region.

"We quickly identified ACAS-Law by virtue of its preeminence in Nigeria and our combination continues Dentons' momentum in Africa, enabling Dentons to, once again, maintain and improve its quality as it grows."

"ACAS-Law and Dentons share the vision of building the leading Pan-African law firm owned and controlled by Africans," said Felicia Kemi Segun, Managing Partner of ACAS-Law.

"Our future combination with Dentons means that our clients benefit from continuing to be served by lawyers that they know and trust while also having access to an unrivalled talent pool around the globe."