A buyout team comprising the founders of the now-defunct Parabis Group has formally acquired its defendant insurance firm Plexus Law, in a deal that will see the transfer of over 900 staff, supported by a £4.2m loan.
The deal closed yesterday afternoon (24 November) and allows the acquirers to take on Plexus’ work in progress while safeguarding the jobs of over 900 employees after Parabis entered administration earlier this week.
The buyout team includes Parabis founders Andrew McDougall, Nick Addyman and Tim Roberts, who will take the roles of chief executive, consumer director and commercial director respectively at the newly-acquired firm.
The sale was facilitated by a £4.2m loan from British bank OakNorth, and is based on Plexus Law’s ‘predictable cashflow generation, supported by the strong net debtor and work in progress positions of the business.’ The deal took less than three weeks to complete.
A statement added: ‘Plexus Law’s strength in the defendant claims legal market leaves it well-positioned to grow revenues and cash generation in the future.’
This latest update on the Parabis saga follows yesterday’s news that Manchester firm Horwich Farrelly has taken a 43-strong personal injury team from the Parabis Group, including seven partners, just one day after it emerged Parabis is to be broken up and sold in a £50m pre-pack administration deal.
New chief executive McDougall said: ‘We had a unique opportunity to acquire Plexus Law, but needed to move fast. After approaching OakNorth, we were impressed with how quickly they got up to speed and gave a funding commitment, which allowed us to proceed with the transaction.’
Hogan Lovells advised AlixPartners on the £50m pre-pack administration with a team led by finance partner Deborah Gregory, while Squire Patton Boggs acted for Plexus Law with a team including corporate partners William Downs and Tim Stead, and restructuring and insolvency partner Cathryn Williams. Squire Patton Boggs employment partner Janette Lucas and tax partner Timothy Jarvis acted for Plexus.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
