Pure Legal hits deals trail with £13m swoop

A NORTH West legal investor has made a first swoop for his new venture, snapping up a Yorkshire practice for £13m.

Pryers, a personal injury and medical negligence firm established in 2002 and based in York, will become part of Liverpool-based group Pure Legal, an Alternative Business Structure.

Pure was launched on April 1 and received its ABS licence in October. Its founder, Phil Hodgkinson, was the former owner of Compass Costs Consultants, which was sold to Quindell Legal Services for £14m last year and is now part of the Slater & Gordon Group.

Hodgkinson, chief executive of Pure Legal, said, “This is our first major acquisition and forms an integral part of our future strategy.

“Clinical negligence and product liability are both areas of work in which we wish to expand, and Pryers are considered one of the top firms in the UK who specialise in these areas of work.

“It is important when creating an ABS that you learn from mistakes made by others. Our strategy is to acquire and collaborate with firms who have the necessary skill sets and experience in areas of legal work we wish to expand into and to couple that with organic growth as we deliver our initial 5-year plan.”

The £13m fee will be paid in cash in staged payments and the current management team will stay with the business for at least three years.

Pryers’ managing partner Ian Pryer said: “Having faced a number of approaches from law firms and companies over the years to acquire Pryers, it was important for us to wait patiently for the right opportunity with the right company to forge ahead with. Pure Legal undoubtedly presents that opportunity and I am delighted to get this deal over the line and I look forward to working with Phil and his team.”

“We will continue to build and expand our key areas of clinical negligence and product liability under the stewardship of Pure Legal and, in spite of the Government’s attempts to limit the rights of injured people to claim redress, we will continue to fight on behalf of claimants under the Pure banner as we have done for many years.”

Armstrong Watson acted as advisers to Pryers throughout the deal. FMGS provided legal advice to Pryers, while Wilson Henry, O’Connors and ZebraLC advised Pure Legal.