Acquisition of Thursfields Legal Limited

Knights today announces that it has agreed to acquire Thursfields Legal Limited (trading as "Thursfields" and "Thursfields Solicitors"), a premium, full service legal services business with offices across the West Midlands.

Acquisition rationale and background

Founded in 1878, Thursfields is an independent, full-service regional law firm with offices in Worcester, Kidderminster, Solihull and Birmingham. Since inception, Thursfields has transformed from a traditional law firm into a corporatised, premium provider of legal services to a national client base.

The firm has a strong Private Wealth offering, spanning Private Client, Family and Residential Property, alongside Corporate, Real Estate and Dispute Resolution services. The acquisition sees 101 fee earning professionals join Knights and significantly strengthens the Group's presence in the West Midlands.

The acquisition is well-aligned with Knights' strategy to bolster its future organic growth through selective, considered acquisitions. It further extends Knights' existing capabilities in Private Wealth, while bringing a high-quality team and national client base, which will benefit from Knights' wider range of services and its established platform.

In its unaudited accounts for the year ended 30 April 2024, Thursfields reported revenue of £11.2m and a PBT margin of circa 25%. Following full integration and realisation of synergies, the Board expects it to contribute a PBT margin of circa 30%. Accounting for a typical level of revenue attrition post-acquisition, the acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing.

Terms of the acquisition

Under the terms of the acquisition, Knights will acquire Thursfields Legal Limited from its ten shareholders on a debt free, cash free basis, for a total consideration of c.£12.5m. This comprises initial cash consideration of c.£7.5m and deferred cash consideration of £5.0m to be paid in three equal instalments on each of the first, second and third anniversaries following completion. The cash consideration will be satisfied from Knights' existing banking facilities. Completion is expected to take place on 14 September 2024.

Commenting on the acquisition, David Beech, CEO of Knights, said:

"We are delighted to acquire Thursfields, a premium, full-service law firm which shares many cultural and operational similarities to Knights, and significantly strengthens our position as a leading legal and professional services business in the Midlands.

"With particular strength in Private Wealth, it further enhances our expertise in an important and growing part of our business, which will support our future growth plans.

Michelle O'Hara, Managing Partner at Thursfields commented:

"Knights is a business with a similar ethos to Thursfields, with a strong culture which cultivates collaboration across its offices, to the benefit of client service.

"We look forward to working closely with the team and leveraging Knights' scale, reputation and extensive capabilities, to unlock our future growth potential."