In what is perhaps an early bellwether of 2023 financial performance for the market at large, or a hangover from the second half of 2022, Baker McKenzie has released its financial results following its year end on 30 June, reporting a revenue of $3.3bn, the same as 2021/22, when turnover increased by 6%.
The firm’s net income has also stayed the same as the previous year at $1.2bn.
In a statement, the firm noted that the static revenue came ‘despite challenges including the financial impact of spinning off the firm’s former Russian operation, reduced deal flows across markets, and adverse currency and inflationary pressures’.
While its global revenue is unchanged, the firm claims that it has experienced significant growth in several key sectors, including: Industrials, manufacturing and transportation, which grew by 9%; healthcare and life sciences, which grew by 11%; as well as the energy and infrastructure sector, which the firm explained was driven by the ongoing global energy transition.
In terms of practice areas, the firm recorded an uptick in revenue in key areas, including a 6% rise in employment, a 4% rise in projects and M&A, and most notably, a 19% increase in antitrust.
Over the last 12 months, the firm’s transactional teams closed a number of substantial deals, including advising Swiss construction chemicals group Sika on its €5.3bn acquisition of the MBCC Group from private equity firm Lone Star; Gaw Capital Partners on its seventh Asia Pacific real estate fund, which raised $3bn in total equity; Emerson on its $14bn sale of its Climate Technologies business to Blackstone; Iberdrola in the $6bn sale of over 8400MW of combined cycle gas in Mexico; and Colt Technology Services on an agreement relating to the $1.8bn purchase of Lumen Technologies’ EMEA business.
Global chair Milton Cheng (pictured) said: ‘The world’s leading companies are today entrusting us with major transformations as they reshape their businesses and turn to our firm to make sense of an increasingly complex regulatory environment. We value the trust that our clients place in us, based on the years of experience working together on complex matters and business solutions.’