Scottish legal services company Vialex has sold its corporate finance and employment law business to acquisitive West Midlands firm Higgs.
Vialex provides services to mid-market companies, including mergers & acquisitions, legal counsel and data protection.
Navigator Employment Law adds to Higgs’ employment practice and the Navigator brand will be retained.
Vialex WS, the solicitor firm, is not part of the transaction. It will continue to be run by founders Keith Anderson and Keith Dinsmore who are also expected to become partners at Higgs.
It is the first acquisition for Higgs, a £25.5m turnover full-service law firm, since private equity business August Equity took a majority stake last November. August introduced the two firms last year.
Nick Taylor, who has moved from managing partner at Higgs to CEO, now oversees a company which traces its roots in Brierley Hill to 1875. It has 31 partners and a payroll of 325, after adding Vialex’s 40 staff. Vialex had a turnover of about £5.75m in its last financial year.
“Our aim is to growth significantly both organically and through acquisition to become a £100m business in a relatively short time,” said Mr Taylor, who joined the firm as a trainee in 1997.
Mr Anderson said: “We have grown the business over 16 years. However, to grow organically would be a challenge.
“There are changes in the industry, particularly the increased need to apply technological solutions.
“This deal gives us the ideal platform to expand the business, and we are pleased with the backing we have from Nick and the private equity money that will allow us to accelerate that growth.”
Gareth McKnight, managing director at Navigator Employment Law, added: ”Joining Higgs LLP gives us the platform to grow our employment law offering and provide even greater support to our clients.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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