Mergers & acquisitions as a growth strategy for law firms: a case study of selected law firms in Nairobi

Abstract

Mergers and Acquisitions have become fundamental for firms from medium to large scale corporations owing to market competition, need for product and service innovation, and diversification in regulations, economic and environmental changes. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of mergers and acquisition on growth of law firms. A review of literature was conducted to identify what has been done and the knowledge gap. It was guided by specific objectives that sought to: To evaluate how preparedness in mergers & acquisition influence growth on HH&M and Oraro law firms, to establish the impact of the specific interventions necessary for mergers & acquisition on growth of HH&M and Oraro law firms ,to examine the economic influence of mergers & acquisition on growth of HH&M and Oraro law firms, to investigate effect of the building of relationship and shared knowledge involved in mergers & acquisition on growth of HH&M and Oraro law firms in Nairobi County. The study employed a descriptive research design, whereas proportionate stratified random sampling technique was applied to sample 70 respondents for the study. Questionnaires were used as instruments of collecting data through a drop-and-pick-later technique and note-taking respectively. Data was cleaned, coded and analyzed using SPSS. Demographic characteristics of respondents were described using percentages and frequency while descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) was used for the four objectives. However, inferential statistics (Regression model) was done so as to draw a conclusion from the statistically significant variables. Information was presented in form of tables, charts, graphs and percentages for clarity. The major findings of the study revealed that mergers and acquisition has great impact on growth of law firms as measured by preparedness, government intervention, economic influence and building relationships& shared knowledge. It further showed that only 22% of growth of the two law firms was explained by the independent variables thus need for future research. The study concluded that preparedness and economic influence were significant factors in explaining growth of HH & M and Oraro law firms.