Global law firm enters Canadian market with £27.7m acquisition

Global law firm DWF is set to enter the Canadian market with its latest acquisition in a deal valued at £27.7m.

DWF has reached an agreement to takeover Whitelaw Twining Law Corporation, an independent law firm headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, and TWK Management, an intra-group services company – collectively trading as Whitelaw Twining.

It specialises in insurance, commercial litigation, personal injury and dispute resolution and gives DWF a stronger platform in North America.

The acquisition is valued at up £27.7m with total consideration of up to £16.9m payable in shares and cash, and debt of £10.8m to be repaid or assumed.

Whitelaw Twining’s revenues for the year to 2021 stood at £20m with pro forma EBITDA of £3m.

Sir Nigel Knowles, Group CEO at DWF, said: “Whitelaw Twining is one of the country’s top legal businesses and represents a high quality opportunity for our clients.

“It also allows us to expand our claims and adjusting presence in Canada and wider Connected Services and Mindcrest capabilities in North America.

“We have worked hard to ensure DWF is in a strong position so we can confidently make these key international acquisitions, enabling us to make further progress against our strategy to be the preeminent global provider of integrated legal and business services.

“I look forward to working with our new colleagues. We identified a strong cultural fit with the Whitelaw Twining management team and the values and ways of working within their business.

“Their emphasis on internal collaboration over competition and on creating a progressive, innovative, and supportive working environment reflect our own ‘one team’ culture.”

Daniel Shugarman, Country Managing Partner of Whitelaw Twining, said: “Over 40 years, Whitelaw Twining has gone from a three-person practice in Vancouver to a diverse, full-service litigation law firm serving clients in 17 languages.

“This is the next step forward for our business, further strengthening our position in Canada and creating opportunities for our colleagues to support clients globally.

“We already know DWF well, in particular, its Canadian claims and adjusting practice.

“We recognise the shared values and ‘one team’ approach of our two businesses and we are delighted that through DWF Group’s listed company status we are able to make our Whitelaw Twining colleagues shareholders with an opportunity to benefit from our future success.”