Irwin Mitchell subsidiary moves for PDP Management Services
LAW firm Irwin Mitchell has made its first acquisition since being approved as an Alternative Business Structure with the purchase of PDP Management Services.
Irwin Mitchell is acquiring PDP through its Ascent subsidiary, which has bases in Manchester and Sheffield.
The deal will see PDP, which is based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, continue to trade under its own name but operate as a subsidiary of Ascent and as part of the Irwin Mitchell group.
PDP employs 30 staff and provides face-to-face debt counselling and collection services on behalf of a range of clients.
Irwin Mitchell, which is headquartered in Sheffield and also has an operation in Leeds employing more than 1,000 people in total, has previously told TheBusinessDesk.com it is on the look-out for potential merger and acquisition targets.
It also hasn’t ruled out a possible flotation.
Under ABS, introduced as part of the Legal Services Act, law firms can change their ownership arrangements away from share-holding partnerships to structures more aligned to non-law businesses such as banking, insurance and financial services and can receive backing from external investors.
As part of the acquisition, it is intended that PDP will be licensed by the SRA as an ABS, taking the number of licences held by firms owned by Irwin Mitchell to six.
Mark Higgins, chairman of Ascent, said the acquisition would strengthen the position of both Ascent and PDP in a number of key sectors, including financial services and utilities, and enable both firms to offer even better value to clients.
Mr Higgins said: “Ascent and PDP both offer high quality services to major financial institutions, reflected in both companies’ high rankings in major clients’ own ratings for service and quality.
“Bringing both companies together will enable us to combine that quality and offer improved value for money to current and future clients through our shared expertise and even stronger infrastructure going forward.
John Pickering, group chief executive of IMCO Holdings, the parent of Irwin Mitchell, said: “Ascent is an expanding business and an important part of our growing and successful Group.
“Our strategy has been to build a diverse legal practice which offers a wide range of high quality legal services across both the business and personal client sectors. This fits well with our strategic growth plans for both Ascent and Irwin Mitchell.”
Peter Wilson, of PDP, said: “This development is very much welcomed as a natural progression for our company, which was started by the three founding Directors in 1997, David Thomas, Peter Gander and myself, and has over that time established itself as a strong brand in the Utilities and Mortgage Arrears Counselling arenas.
“We are excited about the future and look forward to working with Mark and Niall Gilhooley, CEO of Ascent, in further development of our combined service offerings. PDP will continue to operate from Banbury where we have established expertise in management and staff.”
