Gordon Dadds to buy Ince & Co for £34m

29th Oct 2018 10:20

(Sharecast News) - AIM-listed Gordon Dadds has agreed to buy international network of law firms Ince & Co for £34m in a deal that will create the UK's largest-listed law firm by revenue.The company will also issue members of Ince & Co an aggregate of up to 3 million options to subscribe for ordinary shares at 140p which will vest on the third anniversary of completion.Headquartered in London, the merged entity will become a new global legal business and will trade as Ince Gordon Dadds LLP. It will be led by Gordon Dadds' managing partner and chief executive officer Adrian Biles, supported by Peter Rogan, chairman of the board of Ince, the heads of the merged firms' offices and business units and the Gordon Dadds management team.The business will have aggregated revenues of more than £110m, with 100 partners and offices in nine countries.Adrian Biles said: "Ince is a highly successful and well-respected business with an iconic brand and I will be delighted to welcome our new colleagues to the group."The merger will build upon the complementary strengths of the two firms in terms of industry expertise and range of services. Our management model will also allow Ince's partners and fee earners to focus even more on providing market leading legal advice to a stellar client base."I'm very pleased that I will be supported in leading the combined firm by Peter Rogan and his colleagues at Ince."Ince focuses on four core sectors: transport, trade, energy & infrastructure and insurance. It is estimated that £52.5m of its turnover in the year ended 30 April 2018 would be consolidated by Gordon Dadds and Gordon Dadds had an annual run rate of £42m at 31 March 2018.At 1020 BST, the shares were up 0.8% to 182.91p.