Nottingham solicitors practice Fraser Brown has been sold in an £8m deal - after 250 years in business.
Knights Group Holdings plc, one of the UK's fastest growing legal and professional services businesses, has made the firm its eighth acquisition in less than two years.
It already has offices in Leicester, Derby and Birmingham among its 10 branches, and is ranked within the UK’s top 100 largest law firms by revenue.
Patrick Wood, chief executive of Fraser Brown, said: “With its ambitious culture and strong reputation, we see Knights as a good match for us. Having expanded recently, we look forward to continuing to grow our presence in the East Midlands as part of a larger group.”
Contracts have now been exchanged on the deal with the full-service Nottingham legal firm.
In a statement, the firm said the acquisition strengthens the company’s presence in the East Midlands, in line with the group’s strategy to 'accelerate its organic growth through carefully targeted acquisitions which are a strong cultural fit and strengthen existing offices, add new geographies or bring complementary business services'.
As part of the deal the eight equity partners of Fraser Brown will receive £2.83m in cash, payable on completion, and receive £3m of shares.
Further cash consideration of £2.42m will be paid in instalments on the first and second anniversary of completion, subject to certain conditions being met.
Some 81 fee earners will join Knights from the firm.
The deal should complete on March 27.
Established over 250 years ago in the heart of Nottingham, Fraser Brown has grown to become one of the city’s largest independent law firms,
In its unaudited accounts for the year ending June 30, 2019, Fraser Brown achieved revenue of circa £7.5m, with a profit margin of 10 percent.
David Beech, CEO of Knights, said the firm saw Nottingham as a key city for business in the East Midlands. He said: “With its local and national client base and broad spectrum of work, the combination of Fraser Brown with our existing presence in the East Midlands will position us as one of the leading legal and professional services firms in the region.”
