Pierce: Symbiotic relationship
Leading offshore law firm Walkers is eyeing geographic growth after becoming the latest to take external cash after agreeing a “strategic co-investment” into its fund and corporate services business.
Vitruvian Partners, a London-headquartered global investment firm, has taken an undisclosed stake in Walkers Professional Services (WPS), which sits alongside the law firm.
Launched in 2015, WPS provides corporate services to global private equity and hedge funds, CLO (collateralised loan obligation) managers, trusts and financial institutions.
It has over 300 employees in the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Ireland, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The law firm has offices in the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, London, Jersey, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland and Dubai.
Ingrid Pierce, global managing partner of Walkers, said: “Our vision is to be the premier law firm and corporate services provider across all major investment centres, offering our clients cohesive, end-to-end solutions.
“This partnership with Vitruvian Partners presents a significant opportunity to extend WPS into new markets, enhance its service range, and drive efficiencies.”
She explained to Legal Futures that the larger offshore firms all initially attached quite small corporate services providers to provide incorporation or registered office services.
“What started off as a bit of a cottage industry business 25 years ago suddenly became a pretty significant part of a lot of the law firms’ businesses,” she went on. “And when it works well, it works really well because there’s so many synergies.”
But the model has begun to fracture, with firms either selling their corporate services providers or seen the provider become bigger than the law firm.
Ms Pierce, who practised as a barrister in London for nearly a decade before moving to Walkers, which is headquartered in the Cayman Islands, said the introduction to Vitruvian came at the perfect time, as the 10-year anniversary of WSP had Walkers thinking about the next decade – and it was attracted by the “accelerated growth” a partnership could offer, especially as there was growing demand from clients for a one-stop shop.
This was not, she stressed, a roundabout way to get external cash into the law firm – the money is solely for WSP’s expansion. Indeed, without the partners having to invest more in WSP, they can spend their money just on Walkers.
But the two businesses’ growth would likely be symbiotic, Ms Pierce added, such as expanding into new territories together – although this has not been, and would not be, automatic.
For example, while Walkers is in the Channel Islands, WSP is not, as there are plenty of corporate services providers already there with which the law firm has good relationships.
“It’s much more helpful for them to work together and potentially much more profitable,” she acknowledged, “but each branch can still do its own thing.” While they have many common clients, not all are; if a law firm client wants to work with a different corporate services provider, that is not a problem.
Ms Pierce predicted that other offshore firms would look to follow suit. “Outright sales are probably more popular because people can then take money off the table and do something different. But I think this is a good signal of where the market can go.”
Vitruvian’s involvement was not just about capital, she added. It provided long-term stability and greater expertise in areas like technology and infrastructure.
Steven Manning, chief executive of WPS, added: “Leveraging Vitruvian Partners’ strategic investment and resources, we are confident in our ability to deliver an expanded, market-leading offering that surpasses the capabilities of many competitors”.
Vitruvian Partners has over $20bn of active funds that have backed the likes of Just Eat, Skyscanner and Wise.
Partner Luuk Remmen said: “Our investment will support the roll-out of best-in-class technology for WPS, as well as the expansion of its service offering, and its presence in new markets, accelerating growth and innovation across the board.”
Leave a Comment