Slater & Gordon: Harbour showing confidence
Slater & Gordon (S&G) has struck a £33m funding deal with litigation funder Harbour to help build its personal injury and clinical negligence practices.
It is the third and biggest deal announced in recent weeks by Harbour, which is expanding beyond litigation to broader law firm financing.
The facility replaces the one S&G previously had with VFS Legal, which went into administration last month. In the wake of that, S&G said it had anticipated this and “planned accordingly”.
In its most recently filed accounts, for 2021 – but written in January 2023 – S&G said its unnamed provider of working capital had informed the firm that it was “attempting to refinance its own business given repayment commitments under its own facilities”.
It continued: “If these refinancing activities are not successful, the current provider has indicated that it will not be able to continue funding the group’s working capital facility. In these circumstances, the group will need to find alternative working capital financing.”
The report said the directors’ assessment of going concern assumed the group would have access to at least £25m of working capital funding, on terms substantially similar to those of its then funder.
S&G said yesterday that it would use Harbour’s capital “to invest in developing its consumer legal services teams, and to fund a substantial book of clinical negligence and other personal injury claims, consistent with its strategy to be one of the UK’s leading provider of personal injury and related services”.
Chief executive Nils Stoesser said: “We have been looking for a financial partner to help us capitalise on the next stages of the firm’s growth, and we are we are delighted to have Harbour’s support and confidence in our future.”
Elizabeth Comley, chief operating officer, added: “The facility we have agreed with Harbour gives us access to stable capital over several years, which we can use to make substantial investment in our core consumer legal services businesses.
“We have big growth ambitions for our personal injury, clinical negligence, and other practice areas, where we know we have a competitive advantage.”
Ellora MacPherson, managing director and chief investment officer at Harbour, commented: “We are excited about their future growth plans as reflected by this significant investment.”
Harbour has recently provided credit facilities to Bamboo Group and to Rothley Law.
