Acquisition of Groom Wilkes & Wright LLP

Gateley, the professional services group, is pleased to announce the acquisition (the "Acquisition") of Groom Wilkes & Wright LLP ("GWW") for a maximum consideration of up to £9.0 million.

Founded more than 20 years ago, GWW is a boutique IP firm specialising in every aspect of trademark and design law, representing clients across all sectors from start-ups to several of the biggest brand-owning companies globally. For the year ended 5 April 2025, GWW delivered revenue of £4.7 million, with corporatised profit before tax of £1.4 million. As at 5 April 2025, GWW had net assets of £0.3 million.

Led by senior partners Trevor Wright and Katy Adams, GWW will operate within Gateley's Business Services Platform and will continue to trade under the name Groom Wilkes & Wright. The Platform combines the considerable commercial expertise of IP and dispute resolution lawyers within Gateley Legal along with trade mark and patent attorneys Adamson Jones and life sciences patent attorneys Symbiosis IP, both acquired by the Group in 2022.

Acquisition rationale

Part of the Group's Platform strategy is to build an industry relevant trade mark attorney and patent services offering via a mix of acquisitive and organic growth, and by adding new trade mark and patent specialisms and geographical areas. Alongside Adamson Jones and Symbiosis IP, the Acquisition of GWW further enhances the development of complementary business services with an IP and brands focus.

The combined strength and depth of expertise offered by GWW and Adamson Jones positions them as one of the leading trade mark specialists in the UK, making them well placed to extend and win more work in the sector.

Terms of the Acquisition

Under the terms of the Acquisition, Gateley has acquired Groom Wilkes & Wright LLP from its members (the "Sellers") for a maximum consideration of up to £9.0 million. The initial consideration of £5.725 million will be subject to normal working capital and balance sheet adjustments, by reference to the final completion accounts. All consideration payments will be satisfied as to 75% in cash and 25% by the issuance of ordinary shares of 10 pence each in the capital of Gateley ("Ordinary Shares").

Once the completion accounts and the initial consideration have been determined, consideration shares will be issued at a value of £1.24 per share, being the 20 day average Gateley share price leading up to the Acquisition date. Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the consideration shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission") and a further announcement will be made in due course in relation to this Admission. The initial cash consideration will be funded from Gateley's new £80m revolving credit facility announced on 14 April 2025.

The balance of the consideration will be payable by reference to a two year earn-out period, with additional consideration equal to one times the EBITDA of the acquired business in each of the two years after completion.

All members of the Groom Wilkes & Wright management team will remain with the business, including Senior Partner, Trevor Wright, who has been in the trademark industry for over forty years and was a founder member of the business in 2004.

Commenting on the Acquisition, Rod Waldie, Chief Executive Officer of Gateley, said:

"I am delighted to welcome Groom Wilkes & Wright to the Group. This strategic acquisition will extend our reach in trade mark work across our consultancy and legal services teams who operate in this field. The Acquisition forms part of our acquisitive and organic growth plan to develop a distinct and innovative intangible assets offering that further builds on the extensive expertise we have in the market and where we are already seeing huge potential for further growth."

Trevor Wright, Senior Partner and Founder of GWW, said:

"I'm thrilled that my colleagues and I are joining Gateley today. Since our first meeting I have been impressed by their strategic vision of building deep expertise in a broad range of trade mark and wider IP professional services, and by the progress they have made to date in delivering that strategy. We share the same core values of a commitment to excellence in client service, delivered as a team. I am very grateful to my colleagues for all their hard work and dedication to this point. Gateley will be a fantastic new home for them and for the GWW business."