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Case study · Legal services

Building a platform in the UK legal market

A family office pursuing a legal services roll-up needed access to suitable UK regional law firms and the people who could deliver end-to-end execution. We built a longlist through our legal sector relationships, narrowed it to a focused shortlist and led the first conversations and negotiations. The engagement remains ongoing as we work with the client to secure the optimum platform firm on which to anchor the buy-and-build.

ProvesSector relationships turned into a focused acquisition search and direct negotiations
Client
Family office
Engagement
Ongoing buy-side support for a UK legal services roll-up
An empty meeting room with a wooden table and leather chairs, overlooking a street of stone buildings through tall windows.
The situation

A broad list of names was only the starting point.

The client was looking to build a legal services group through acquisitions in the smaller to mid-sized regional law firm market. That required identifying suitable firms and establishing a route to their senior leadership.

The family office needed to prioritise firms against its acquisition strategy, open discussions and understand which opportunities warranted further attention. Our role was to connect those stages, drawing on our own legal sector contacts and relationships with specialist search firms.

Services
  • Acquisition strategy
  • Target identification
  • Target screening
  • Management introductions
  • Negotiations
What we did

Five steps, in order

  1. The acquisition search

    We translated the family office’s acquisition brief into a focused search across UK regional law firms. This gave the target identification process a clear direction and kept the search aligned with the proposed roll-up.

  2. The longlist

    We drew on proprietary contacts in the legal sector and specialist legal search relationships to identify prospective firms. Those relationships provided a route into the market and helped build a longlist for review.

  3. The shortlist

    We assessed and triaged the longlist against the client’s requirements, narrowing it to a more focused set of prospects. This helped concentrate the family office’s time on firms worth engaging in a substantive discussion.

  4. Leadership introductions

    We arranged meetings with senior leaders at shortlisted firms, moving the process from target research to direct engagement. The conversations created an opportunity for both sides to explore their interest in a potential transaction.

  5. Negotiations

    We led initial negotiations with prospective firms and helped the family office explore the basis on which discussions could progress. Our support continues as the acquisition plans develop.

How the search narrowed

From a broad brief to direct negotiations

Each stage narrowed the field and moved the process closer to the senior leaders who could decide.

01LonglistBuilt from our legal sector contacts andspecialist search relationships02ShortlistTriaged against the client's requirements03Leadership meetingsIntroductions to senior leaders atshortlisted firms04NegotiationsInitial negotiations led by us, supportongoing
  1. Longlist: Built from our legal sector contacts and specialist search relationships
  2. Shortlist: Triaged against the client's requirements
  3. Leadership meetings: Introductions to senior leaders at shortlisted firms
  4. Negotiations: Initial negotiations led by us, support ongoing
The stages of the search, in order. The narrowing is a shape, not a count of firms.
Where it got to
Ongoing mandate
UK legal services acquisition search and buy-side support
Direct engagement
Senior leadership meetings and initial negotiations with prospective firms

The search has progressed from a broad acquisition brief to a focused shortlist, leadership meetings and initial negotiations. The mandate remains active, with further support as the family office pursues its plans.

Call us before, not after.

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