Staffordshire-based Knights is set to raise £50m from its initial public offering (IPO) on AIM this week (29 June), with the firm’s four selling shareholders to split £20m in proceeds.
The float – which would be the largest legal IPO to date – is also expected to give Knights a market capitalisation of £103.5m, in line with the firm’s forecast from earlier in the month. Continue reading “Knights shareholders to get £20m windfall after float valued at over £100m”
The burgeoning legal technology scene has seen Slaughter and May confirm it will launch a legal technology incubator in the next year, while highly-rated start-up Tessian raises £9m.
In a highly symbolic move for the industry, Magic Circle firm Slaughters has confirmed the launch of a law tech programme it flagged earlier this year, to sit alongside its existing Fast Forward fintech incubator. Continue reading “Slaughters confirms highly-symbolic legal tech incubator launch as another start-up secures $13m investment”
Thrusting national operator DWF is gearing up to be the largest UK firm float yet with a London Stock Exchange listing later this year. The top 25 UK law firm initially went into standard non-denial mode today (15 June) over reports it is aiming to float later this year with a supposed price tag of £1bn.
The presence of City PR shop Finsbury, which was today distributing ‘background briefing points’, signalled that DWF was being positioned for an offering. Within an hour the firm anyway changed its public position to issue a statement (see below).
An artificial intelligence (AI) company boasting Linklaters as one of its key clients is targeting the world’s biggest firms after securing £13m in one of the legal tech sector’s biggest investments.
Heavyweight investors Goldman Sachs and Temasek, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, co-led on the investment in Eigen Technologies, announced Monday (11 June). The round outstrips the $10m raised late last year by fellow AI player, legal tech darling and Slaughter and May investment, Luminance. It also builds on seed funding it received from CVC Capital Partners managing partner Jonathan Feuer. Continue reading “Linklaters legal AI partner ropes in market-leading £13m investment”
One of the earliest adopters of the Alternative Business Structure (ABS) model is turning to the public capital markets to raise tens of millions to pay off debt and fund a war chest big enough to land three acquisitions by 2020.
Stafforshire-based Knights said on Monday (4 June) it was listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), becoming the fifth law firm to do so. The float is expected to give the business a valuation of more than £100m, which would make it the largest legal initial public offering (IPO) to date. Continue reading “‘A sufficient war chest’: Knights turn to IPO for acquisition agenda”
Lawyers On Demand (LOD) has secured new private equity backers in place of parent Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) as the New Law pioneer gears up for a growth drive aimed at positioning it as a global player.
Buyout house Bowmark Capital is acquiring BCLP’s entire stake of 62% in LOD for an undisclosed sum. The sale is expected to carry a multi-million pound price tag and represent a significant windfall for BCLP, which was formed by the merger earlier this year of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and US law firm Bryan Cave. James Lever at Livingstone Partners advised BCLP and LOD’s shareholders, while Stephenson Harwood advised Bowmark on the deal with a team lead by Jonathan Pittal. Jessica Adams at Macfarlanes advised for LOD and Alex Lewis at Baker McKenzie represented the management.
Continue reading “New Law pioneer LOD primed for growth as BCLP sells to buyout house”
The boss of AIM-listed law firm Gateley is confident investors would support further acquisitions after its third in three years, citing a return to the capital markets as an option, for the right opportunity.
Earlier this week, Gateley announced it was making its first legal acquisition since its landmark £30m listing in 2015, entering an agreement to buy Surrey-based GCL Solicitors for £4.15m. Continue reading “‘We continue to look’: Listed Gateley eyes more opportunities after first legal acquisition”
A £20m government fund for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and data analysis in law, accounting and insurance is being welcomed as a positive step for what is ‘under-funded and under-thought’ research and development (R&D) in the legal tech space.
Earlier this month, the government launched the fund as part of a wider drive to address challenges through research funding agency UK Research and Innovation and its Innovate UK arm. It is the latest development in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund which focuses on improving UK science and business innovation. Continue reading “Government backs ‘under-funded’ legal AI and data technology with £20m contestable R&D fund”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is to build on its mass relocation of support roles to the north with the launch of an equivalent hub for continental Europe. The move is also set to usher in a new career track for legal staff and support tech-assisted services, further building on the City giant’s 2015 shake-up, which has already created more than 700 jobs in Manchester.
The latest initiative will see Freshfields launch a new back and middle office centre to cover mainland Europe, with Berlin viewed as the most likely destination. ‘Berlin is the preferred location because it’s a centre for legal tech, and the only European city where there is a real start-up scene,’ Freshfields managing partner Stephan Eilers told Legal Business. Continue reading “Freshfields steps up New Law makeover with Euro services hub and Manchester expansion plans”
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is set to relocate nearly 500 of its City workforce to a new office in Canary Wharf, as the firm moves out of its Finsbury Square base.
The move, announced today (17 May), will see 495 staff – including the majority of HSF’s London business services staff – relocated to the new office on Bank Street in September. Continue reading “‘A unique buzz’: Herbert Smith to exit Finsbury Square to set up in Canary Wharf”
