Cardiff: First Knights office outside of England
Listed law firm Knights has undertaken yet another acquisition to mark its first entry into Wales.
It has bought two-partner Cardiff firm Le Gros Solicitors, which specialises in commercial and residential property, as well as announcing the recruitment of four partners for the Cardiff office that it is to open.
Two partners and four other fee-earners from Le Gros Solicitors have joined, with managing partner Claudia Le Gros writing on LinkedIn on Friday: “After 14 years it’s time to close one chapter and begin another. I’m delighted to say that today, Le Gros Solicitors has been acquired by Knights. I’m so proud of what we have achieved as a team and looking forward to what comes next.”
This is the second consecutive Knights deal which has not been announced to the London Stock Exchange because of its small size, following 33-lawyer Sussex firm Rix & Kay [1] less than two months ago. In May, it announced a £16.6m deal for Essex law firm Birkett Long [2].
Le Gros is Knights’ 26th acquisition since listing in 2018. Its annual revenues now exceed £200m, with around 1,350 staff in 32 offices nationwide.
David Beech, CEO of Knights, said: “Claudia and the team bring an excellent reputation and lots of complementary expertise to Knights – and strengthen the team of specialists with experience in South Wales that we’re building.”
Meanwhile, Knights has hired as partners for Cardiff: dispute resolution specialist Will Baird, who was a director at Robertsons Solicitors; Scott Keddle, who was a senior associate in the commercial property team at Clarke Willmott; corporate lawyer Stewart Knights, formerly a senior associate at Geldards; tax and succession planning specialist Shaun Thomas from Foot Anstey, where he was a managing associate. Mr Thomas is also a fluent Welsh speaker.
James Christacos, regional client services director at Knights, said: “This is a landmark moment for our growth and an incredibly exciting opportunity to introduce the market in Wales to the premium service that our legal experts have to offer.
“Will, Stewart, Shaun and Scott are all very skilled lawyers whom we plan to build a team around with yet more recruits set to join in Cardiff in the weeks and months to come.
“Cardiff is the beating heart of the Welsh economy and it feels fitting that we’re now able to offer the business community in South Wales and beyond access to the best lawyers in the country across our network of 32 offices nationwide.”