Beech: Cultural and operational similarities between firms
Listed law firm consolidator Knights has unveiled its first acquisition in over a year – and 22nd in total – by announcing a £12.5m deal for West Midlands firm Thursfields Legal.
Founded in 1878, Thursfields is a full-service firm with 101 fee-earners working across offices in Worcester, Kidderminster, Solihull and Birmingham.
Its unaudited accounts for the year to 30 April 2024 show revenue of £11.2m and a profit before tax margin of around 25%, which Knights said it expected to grow to 30% post-merger.
A stock exchange announcement said: “The acquisition is well aligned with Knights’ strategy to bolster its future organic growth through selective, considered acquisitions.
“It further extends Knights’ existing capabilities in private wealth, while bringing a high-quality team and national client base, which will benefit from Knights’ wider range of services and its established platform.”
Thursfields’ 10 shareholders will receive £7.5m up front, with the remaining £5m to be paid in equal instalments on each of the first, second and third anniversaries following completion, which is expected to be 14 September.
Knights chief executive David Beech said Thursfields “shares many cultural and operational similarities to Knights, and significantly strengthens our position as a leading legal and professional services business in the Midlands”.
Michelle O’Hara, managing partner at Thursfields, said: “Knights is a business with a similar ethos to Thursfields, with a strong culture which cultivates collaboration across its offices, to the benefit of client service.
“We look forward to working closely with the team and leveraging Knights’ scale, reputation and extensive capabilities, to unlock our future growth potential.”
In its annual results, issued earlier this month, Knights said it was planning to double the size of the business in the “medium term” as revenue hit £150m for the first time.
In other M&A news, Yorkshire firm Ison Harrison, one of the country’s largest employee-owned law firms, has acquired Leeds firm Cohen Cramer.
It specialises in personal injury, regulatory and criminal law, as well as animal-related cases, family law, dispute resolution and legal costs. With four directors and 27 employees, Cohen Cramer’s turnover topped £3m last year.
Ison Harrison now has more than 300 staff in 20 offices across Yorkshire, having also opened an office this month in Selby.
Jonathan Wearing, managing director of Ison Harrison, said: “Cohen Cramer’s strengths in regulatory and criminal law perfectly complement our existing capabilities, and their focus on military and animal-related injury claims will significantly enhance our personal injury practice. We are stronger and more versatile than ever before.”
Paul Cox and Roy Crozier, who were joint heads of South-West firm Foot Anstey’s intellectual property team, have formed a new firm, Ionic Legal, which will operate on Excello Law’s platform.
Ionic has a team of 10 in offices in Manchester and London, with four other Foot Anstey staff also joining.
It is the fourth firm currently using the Excello platform, joining Lowry Legal, 458 law and Roberts Law. What is now Pogust Goodhead also started life on it.
In London, William Sturges has merged with LMK Law, adding six people to the William Sturges team at its Westminster office. Rohit Sthalekar joins as a commercial property partner.
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