Major Tayside law firm Blackadders is to merge with Edinburgh-based lawyers McKay Norwell.
The new practice will trade under the Blackadders banner with 17 partners and 150 other staff.
It is understood jobs will go as a result of the merger but there is no indication yet of the number or nature of these.
The fact the merged company is keeping the Blackadders name suggests Blackadders, which has its head office in Reform Street, Dundee, and which has the greater number of partners, will be the bigger of the two firms in the union.
The merger is due to take place on June 18 and will have accredited specialisations in corporate, agricultural, licensing, employment, trust, family, personal injury and incapacity law, in addition to a wealth management division.
The merged practice will act for household name PLCs and charities, alongside a substantial private client base. The anticipated turnover of the merged firm for the year to June 2013 is £8.5 million.
A statement announcing the merger said consultations on transfer of employment contracts and redundancies are ongoing, and no comment on these would be made.
Blackadders, which also has a property office in Whitehall Street, Dundee, and branches in Forfar and Arbroath, presently has 14 partners, eight directors and 23 solicitors.
It has existed in its present form for more than 20 years having previously been the product of a merger.
McKay Norwell is based in Rutland Square, Edinburgh, and lists three partners, one consultant and seven solicitors among its key personnel.
The statement added that Robert Forman, currently a consultant to McKay Norwell, will become a partner of Blackadders LLP along with two other senior personnel from the Edinburgh firm, John Mitchell and Richard Godden.
This would suggest that the 14 existing partners at Blackadders will keep their positions in the new company.
Blackadders chairman Donald Hutcheson said: ”We are delighted to further strengthen Blackadders for the future by joining forces with McKay Norwell, who are well-known and respected throughout Scotland and are very much a part of the Edinburgh legal scene.
”We and they are a good fit in every respect.”