Watson: increasingly efficient and responsive law firm
Fairpoint plc’s acquisition of Colemans-ctts has formally completed, meaning legal services now accounts for 62% of the company’s revenue.
The deal, first announced at the start of the month, is structured as an acquisition by Simpson Millar, the national law firm Fairpoint bought in June 2014 to enter the legal market.
With niche family practice Foster & Partners also acquired last year, it means that Simpson Millar now has a revenue in excess of £40m. In its financial year ended 30 April 2015, Colemans-ctts generated unaudited revenues of £19m and unaudited pre-tax profits of £2.3m.
Initial consideration was made up of £8m in cash and a further £1m in shares, with up to £7m more payable subject to various performance criteria.
Colemans-ctts said the deal would allow it to expand the services it offered clients, particularly in family law, care home claims and private client work, while it would strengthen Simpson Millar’s position in personal injury claims, travel law and residential conveyancing.
Peter Watson, managing partner at Simpson Millar, said: “Our strategy of delivering clear, transparent and affordable legal services products to UK consumers, mirrors that of our new partners at Colemans-ctts.
“The acquisition adds their complementary best-of-breed expertise and significant processing capability to our own. The result will be an increasingly efficient and responsive law firm, which delivers legal services in step with the needs and life events of consumers.”
Colemans-ctts managing partner Janet Tilley added: “The legal services industry is changing rapidly and to be part of an organisation like Fairpoint, which has the resources to help us realise our own objectives and build genuine scale within the consumer market, is very exciting indeed.”
Colemans has three offices in Manchester, Kingston-upon-Thames, and Acton in West London, with over 200 staff and around 67 fee-earners.
