Toronto-headquartered Borden Ladner Gervais (BLG) has acquired specialist Canadian asset management legal advisory and compliance firm AUM Law to further expand its investment industry coverage.

AUM Law was founded in 2009 to coincide with the introduction of the Canadian Securities Administrators cross-Canada registration regime, providing asset management firms with regulatory and compliance support for a fixed-fee. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

John Murphy, national managing partner and CEO of BLG, said: “Our clients rely on us to stay ahead of change and help them navigate the complex business landscape. This acquisition, which is the first of note in our sector in several years, is evidence of our commitment to embrace innovation to transform the practice of law and bring new services to our clients as quickly as possible.”

The transaction will allow BLG to automate its regulatory and compliance offering through its managed services unit BLG Beyond.

Kevin Cohen, president of AUM Law, said: “Since inception, we have developed strong client relationships while developing our model to proactively support our clients with managing risk and compliance in a rapidly changing environment. This is an opportunity to expand our platform across Canada and bring our alternative legal services model to new clients as part of BLG, attract the finest talent to our team and leverage BLG’s investment in technology to further enhance the client experience.”

Global law firm M&A activity has started to pick up again following a slowdown last year. Last month US national firm Holland & Knight said it was in merger talks with Dallas-based energy specialist Thompson & Knight, which would be the largest US law firm merger since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Latin America has also seen a number of law firm M&A deals this year. Last month, Spain’s fourth largest firm ECIJA combined with Colombian firm MBCR, its second deal of the year in the region following its combination with Buenos Aires-based firm ELZEN a month earlier. Also in March, Dentons became the first global firm to enter Bolivia after combining with local firm Guevara & Gutiérrez.