Knights makes £11.5m swoop for south-eastern counterpart

Midlands-headquartered law firm Knights has made an £11.5m swoop for a 130-year-old counterpart in the south-east.

Coffin Mew has been snapped up by Knights in a move that will bring 102 fee earners to the firm and will significantly expand the firm’s presence in the south-eastern region.

In its unaudited accounts for the year ended 31 March, Coffin Mew reported revenue of £11.3m with a profit margin of around 8%. The firm has offices in Portsmouth, Southampton, Brighton and Newbury.

David Beech, CEO of Knights, said: “The acquisition allows us to significantly expand our presence in the South East, by entering a number of key new locations, as we continue to make good progress in achieving our ambition to become the leading legal and professional service business outside of London.”

Miles Brown, partner, Coffin Mew, said: “Having built a leading position in Portsmouth and the South East, we are excited to be joining Knights, an ambitious firm with a strong and growing reputation as it expands across the UK. In particular, we are looking forward to benefitting from the group’s scale which will allow us to more fully meet the strong demand, and need for broader technical skills, we are seeing from our clients, while greater central resource and support will better enable us to fulfil our growth potential, as part of a larger group.”

Meanwhile, Knights has confirmed its full-year profit warning. The firm said it expects underlying profit before tax to come in at £18.1m – against £18.4m last year.

Knights has also revealed that its chief operating officer Richard King will step down at the end of May.