Legal Matters

Scotland

Private equity firms are increasingly targeting the UK legal sector, with lawyers contemplating deals that could bring in money to boost investment and deliver a windfall for partners. Jonathan Boyers, a managing director in the corporate finance division of consultancy Alvarez & Marsal, said: "Many firms are considering selling up - following the trend we have seen in the accountancy market." Oliver Vaughan, managing director of the investment bank Houlihan Lokey, says: “Private equity firms believe that legal services could be the next frontier for them to invest in." Noting that accounting firms have been a target for private equity, he adds: "If you take a legal firm versus an accounting firm, they are very different - I think the legal services market is more nuanced." Toby Harper, who founded Harper James, comments: "A private equity investor would give me that comfort of partnering with somebody who's been there and done it a million times over, who's got deeper pockets than me, and who can provide access to funding and expertise to deliver on a successful M&A plan." It is noted that Northridge Law, Higgs, Greenwoods, Switalskis, and MAPD are said to be mulling sales, with most expected to fetch between £50m and £150m.