Knights set to swallow law firm Darbys
LAW firm Darbys is to be acquired by growth-hungry professional services group Knights, whose investors include former Dragons’ Den investor James Caan.
Darbys, which has nearly 50 people in its North West office in Hale, south Manchester, will be rebranded as Knights in January.
The deal will see Staffordshire-based Knights hit £40m turnover with 300 people based at seven offices around the country.
Darbys, led by former Pannone partner Simon McCrum has grown rapidly in the region in the last two years. It also has offices in Oxford and Essex.
Knights, which has an office in Chester, says it is now a top 100 law firm by turnover. Its chief executive David Beech said: “We have been talking to Darbys as part of Knights’ expansion plans and culturally we felt this was the perfect fit for both businesses in terms of client services, expertise and geographical coverage.
“We have a similar ethos in respect of our working practices and our focus on delivering outstanding client service.
“Knights set an ambitious business objective to become a top 100 law firm by 2017 – and with the purchase of Darbys, we have achieved that target a year early. We are proud of the growth that Knights has seen over the past two years in particular – which has seen us open in two new locations, appoint more than 150 new professionals and double our turnover.”
Simon McCrum added: “This is hugely exciting. It became clear very quickly that Knights and ourselves have the same culture, strengths, national vision, and the same ‘quality’ and ‘service’ ethos. The two firms have a complementary offering – combining to develop our existing strengths. It was clear from the beginning, that David and I could see immediately that the two firms together will produce a superb business.”
As part of Knights’ future growth plans, it is seeking to buy or merge with other professional services businesses to add to its legal offering.
In particular it is looking for regional accountancy groups, tax specialists and real estate advisory organisations based outside of Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, are the main focus.
