21 Aug 2013 | 12:13 pm | 1 min. read
Pinsent Masons’ corporate team and Baker Tilly's corporate finance and tax teams have advised personal injury law firm, Fentons Solicitors LLP, in relation to the £32.5m sale of its business to the Australian listed firm Slater & Gordon.
Slater & Gordon was the first publicly listed law firm in the world, having floated on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2007. It made its first UK acquisition in 2012 when it acquired personal injury firm Russell Jones & Walker and has since announced the acquisition of Goodmans Law and the personal injury practice of Taylor Vintners. Discussions with Simpson Millar (an acquisition target reported in May 2013) have been deferred until early 2014.
Fentons is a leading personal injury firm with more than 120 lawyers based in Manchester and London and has one of the largest claimant personal injury claims department in the country.
Corporate partner Gregg Davison led the Pinsent Masons’ team, assisted by Legal Director Anna Whetham, Senior Associate Sarah Flinn and assistant solicitor Emily Mort. Partner Rachel Pitman and assistant solicitor Alexandra Patrick advised in relation to property matters.
Geoff Wightwick led the Manchester-based Baker Tilly corporate finance team assisted by James Wild, while Gary Carrington and Malcolm Cook provided specialist legal practice and tax advice.
Commenting on the deal, Gregg Davison from Pinsent Masons said “We were extremely pleased to work on such a significant transaction for Fentons and its partners and which represents such an important expansion of the Slater & Gordon business in the UK. The recent legislative changes in this area mean that the legal market is on the precipice of transformative change. We have already seen evidence of this when acting on last year’s private equity investment by LDC into Manchester law firm Keoghs and it would be surprising if Fentons is the last UK firm we advise in sale negotiations."
Geoff Wightwick from Baker Tilly said 'Fentons is one of the strongest businesses in the claimant personal injury sector and we are delighted to have assisted in delivering real value to the members.
'Our recent study into the future of the legal profession highlighted the potential for significant structural change, and we anticipate further activity in this market moving forward.'
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