£70m credit line secured by acquisitive law firm
Professional services firm Knights has announced that it’s agreed to a new £70m revolving credit facility, set to scale the business even further.
The Staffordshire-headquartered group has entered into an agreement with HSBC, Allied Irish Bank and NatWest until November 2026. It replaces its £60m facility with HSBC UK, Allied Irish Bank and Lloyds Bank.
Knights almost doubled its revenues in three years, as figures for revealed that revenue increased 13% to £142m while underlying pre-tax profits were up 19%, to £21.6m for 2022/23.
Its acquisition streak has seen the purchase of Meade King in Bristol and Portsmouth-based Coffin Mew, which added around 100 fee-earners to the group. In May Knights bought Baines Wilson, based in Carlisle and Lancaster, and Newcastle commercial law firm St James’ Square.
The integration of Yorkshire firms Keebles and Langleys, and Teesside-based Archers Law, are “performing well”.
More than 1,100 fee-earners are employed across 25 offices including Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester and Nottingham.
David Beech, CEO of Knights, commented: “We are pleased to have agreed this new £70m facility with HSBC UK, AIB (GB), and NatWest. It provides us the headroom and flexibility to continue to execute our strategy, scale our business and accelerate organic growth, complemented by selective acquisitions.”
