Teesside law firm acquired by nationally recognised legal service

Legal and professional service business Knights announced that it has agreed to acquire Stockton-on-Tees based independent law firm Archers Law LLP.

Established in 1860, Archers is a full-service independent law firm operating in the Teesside area. The acquisition sees 38 fee earners joining Knights and will be Knights’ seventeenth location, expanding the company’s presence in the North East region, one of the largest markets outside of London for legal and professional services in the UK.

In its unaudited accounts for the year ended March 31 2021, Archers reported revenue of £4m with a corporatised PBT margin of circa 20 per cent.

Under the terms of the acquisition, Knights will acquire Archers from its four existing equity partners on a debt free, cash free basis for a total consideration of £5.2m, subject to working capital adjustments at the time of completion.

This comprises an initial consideration of £3.7m, made up of £2.1m in cash and £1.6m in 395,060 new ordinary shares in Knights, £0.2m of which will be issued to fixed share members, along with deferred cash consideration of £1.5m to be paid in equal instalments over the three years respectively following completion.

The cash consideration will be satisfied from Knights’ existing facilities. Completion is expected to take place on 26 November 2021.

David Beech, CEO of Knights, said: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Archers, a leading law firm in Teesside which further expands our footprint into the North East, a region currently undergoing significant public and private investment.

“The acquisition allows us to build on the existing strong presence we have established in Yorkshire in recent years and provides a compelling platform for future organic growth in the North East, as we cement our position as the leading legal and professional services business outside London.”

Chris Todd, partner, Archers added: “After over a century of growth to become one of the leading law firms in Teesside, we are delighted to join Knights, whose culture is closely aligned to ours.

“We look forward to executing on the significant growth opportunities in the North East as part of a larger group, which will allow us to offer greater resources and capabilities to our clients in the region and beyond.”

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