Pinsent Masons advises Lloyds TSB Development Capital on the purchase of a stake in law firm Keoghs

Keoghs has agreed to sell 22.5% stake in the firm to private equity investor LDC. The deal, which completed on November 9, follows the approval of its application to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to become an Alternative Business Structure (ABS), which enables legal services firms to accept external shareholders.  This deal follows hot on the heels of investments by James Khan's Hamilton Bradshaw and by Duke Street Capital in Knights LLP and Parabis Group respectively and represents a significant transaction in this quickly developing sector.

Keoghs, an insurance claims specialist with 1,200 staff based in Manchester and Coventry, said the involvement of LDC would enable it to continue investing in its people, processes and technology infrastructure while providing capital for potential strategic acquisitions to add complementary services and scale to its operation.

The Pinsent Masons team advising on the deal was led by Gregg Davison, assisted by Andy Phillips, Sarah Flinn and Amie Norris from the firm's Manchester Corporate team.

Commenting on the deal Gregg Davison, Corporate Partner at Pinsent Masons said: "We were extremely pleased to help LDC with this novel and market leading transaction.  Working with LDC, Keoghs and the other advisers to fit a private equity structure into a transaction with a law firm provided unique challenges and required new solutions to be found to deal with the developing regulatory environment."