Gray leaves Knights to go in-house at acquisitive group
Tom Gray, the well-known Nottingham lawyer is set to leave Knights to work in-house.
Gray is joining Phenna Group, the testing, inspections and certification business as general counsel to help with the firm’s acquisition strategy.
Founded by Paul Barry, and headquartered in Nottingham UK, Phenna Group’s aim is to invest in and partner with selected niche, independent TICC businesses.
With turnover in excess of £65m and 16 businesses in the gGroup, Phenna is already operating across four continents and is home to over 600 employees.
Phenna Group has closed three acquisitions in 2021 already, and following US regulatory approval in February announced the completion of its partnership deal with Inflexion private equity and a £125m debt placement facility with Arcmont Asset Management. The funding deal confirmed committed capital for the Group to finance near term acquisition opportunities and in order to accelerate the global M&A ambitions of the business.
Tom Gray, formerly a corporate partner with legal and professional services business Knights, will join the group from Thursday (April 1). Gray has practiced for 20 years as a corporate lawyer with a number of firms prior to Knights, including working with global firm DLA Piper. He was also one of the partners who led the £8.5m sale of East Midlands law firm Fraser Brown to Knights at the start of 2020, ahead of joining the business.
Barry said: “We are pleased to confirm this additional appointment to Phenna’s senior team to strengthen and support our continued growth strategy. The addition of Tom to the Group will support our acquisition and compliance functions and enhance our ability to transact swiftly and efficiently.”
Gray added: “I am thrilled and excited to be joining the Phenna team at such an exciting time. The group’s vision under the exceptional leadership of Paul Barry and group CFO David Harrison has already seen tremendous success, and I look forward to supporting them with the group’s future plans.”
