REG - Knights Group Hldgs - Acquisition of Coffin Mew LLP

Knights groupAnnouncement

19/05/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 0184M  Knights Group Holdings PLC  19 May 2022

19 May 2022

Knights Group Holdings plc

("Knights", the "Company" or the "Group")

Acquisition of Coffin Mew LLP

Entrance into new key markets, expanding South East presence

Knights today announces that it has agreed to acquire Coffin Mew LLP ("Coffin
Mew"), a leading independent law firm in the South East.

Acquisition rationale and background

With a 130 year history operating in the South East of England, Coffin Mew is
a leading independent law firm based primarily in Portsmouth with offices in
Southampton, Brighton and Newbury. The acquisition brings 102 new fee earners
to Knights, significantly expanding Knights' presence in the South East, an
attractive growth market for legal and professional services, while providing
entry into a number of new locations.

The acquisition of Coffin Mew is in line with the Group's strategy to
accelerate its organic growth through carefully targeted, high quality
acquisitions with a strong cultural fit, that provide entry into new markets
or bring complementary services. Coffin Mew is a full service law firm with
particular strength in commercial real estate and private wealth, adding scale
to Knights' existing offering.

In its unaudited accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022, Coffin Mew
reported revenue of £11.3m with a corporatised PBT margin of circa 8%.
Following full integration and realisation of all synergies, the Board expect
Coffin Mew to contribute a PBT margin of circa 16% which, combined with a
typical level of revenue churn post-acquisition, means the acquisition is
expected to be immediately earnings enhancing.

 

Terms of the acquisition

Under the terms of the acquisition, Knights will acquire Coffin Mew from its
12 existing equity partners ("the Sellers") on a debt free, cash free basis,
for a total consideration of £11.5m subject to working capital adjustments at
the time of completion. This comprises an initial consideration of £6.5m made
up of £5.5m in cash and £1m of new ordinary shares in Knights, along with
deferred cash consideration of £5m to be paid as to £2m on each of the first
and second anniversaries and £1m on the third anniversary following
completion.  The cash consideration will be satisfied from Knights' existing
facilities. Completion is expected to take place on 8 July 2022.

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

"We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Coffin Mew, a well-reputed
firm in the South East which has a strong cultural fit with Knights. The
acquisition allows us to significantly expand our presence in the South East,
by entering a number of key new locations, as we continue to make good
progress in achieving our ambition to become the leading legal and
professional service business outside of London."

Miles Brown, Partner, Coffin Mew commented:

"Having built a leading position in Portsmouth and the South East, we are
excited to be joining Knights, an ambitious firm with a strong and growing
reputation as it expands across the UK. In particular, we are looking forward
to benefitting from the Group's scale which will allow us to more fully meet
the strong demand, and need for broader technical skills, we are seeing from
our clients, while greater central resource and support will better enable us
to fulfil our growth potential, as part of a larger Group."

- ENDS -

Enquiries

 Knights
 David Beech, CEO                          Via MHP Communications

 Numis (Nomad and Broker)
 Stuart Skinner, Kevin Cruickshank         020 7260 1000
 MHP Communications (Media enquiries)
 Andrew Jaques, Katie Hunt, Eleni Menikou  020 3128 8147

07736 464749
                                           knights@mhpc.com

 

Notes to Editors

Knights is a fast-growing, legal and professional services business, ranked
within the UK's top 50 largest law firms by revenue. Knights was one of the
first law firms in the UK to move from the traditional partnership model to a
corporate structure in 2012 and has since grown rapidly. Knights has
specialists in all key areas of corporate and commercial law so that it can
offer end-to-end support to businesses of all sizes and in all sectors. It is
focussed on key UK markets outside London and currently operates from 18
offices located in Birmingham, Cheltenham, Chester, Crawley, Exeter, Leeds,
Leicester, Lincoln Maidstone, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield,
Stoke, Teesside, Weybridge, Wilmslow and York.

 

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