Tue, 20 May 2025 | BUSINESS SALE
Lawfront, a private equity-backed law firm building a national legal services business through acquisitions, has completed its biggest takeover to date with a deal for South of England law firm Trethowans.
Trethowans is a well-established firm in the South, having a history dating back more than 150 years and bases in Southampton, Bournemouth, Winchester, Salisbury and Poole. The deal comes after a year in which the company’s turnover grew by more than 20 per cent.
The deal is Lawfront’s sixth major regional law firm acquisition and its 13th takeover in total. As well as significantly bolstering the group’s presence in the South of England, the acquisition takes its group fee income past £130 million, putting it well on course to establish itself as a Top 10 regional legal services business.
Discussing the acquisition, Lawfront CEO Neil Lloyd (pictured above, middle, with Trethowans' Mike Watson, right, and Lawfront COO Axel Koelsch, left) said that Trethowans has “such a strong brand and reputation in its region”, highlighting the firm’s “rapid growth and entrepreneurial, no-nonsense approach to legal services.”
Lloyd continued: "Lawfront are increasingly seen as the leading consolidator in the regional full service legal market: backing firms’ management teams, preserving their client facing brands, enhancing the prospects of their people and bringing to bear considerable experience in marketing, IT, finance, people and compliance.”
According to Lloyd, the high-quality firms like Trethowans that have joined Lawfront so far are testament to the group’s “leading position”.
Discussing the strength of the group’s offering to law firm owners, he said: “We provide a very credible alternative to the equity partnership model of ownership, addressing concerns of succession, legacy and the scale of investment required to remain competitive.”
Trethowans’ Managing Partner Mike Watson said that the partnership with Lawfront provided “an excellent opportunity to under-pin and accelerate our growth” and that the company’s strong reputation and commitment formed "a solid foundation for continued success.”
He added: "With Lawfront’s support, we look forward to expanding the Trethowans brand within our existing office locations and beyond. Being part of a larger group while preserving our brand identity and culture is a distinctive feature of Lawfront that made this partnership very compelling."
Carl Herring, CEO of Lawfront’s private equity backer Blixt, said that the deal was “more great news for Lawfront’s exciting growth trajectory.”
Herring continued: “Blixt supports ambitious businesses, like Lawfront, with the resources and strategic insight they need to grow and thrive. Trethowans is a great addition for them bringing a leading presence in a new region and great leadership with the drive and ambition to accelerate growth whilst maintaining a genuine focus on their people, clients and communities.”
"It was only in the first quarter of the year that we celebrated passing the £100m revenue milestone but now we are realistically looking at exceeding £150m over the next 12 months."
For an in-depth look at Lawfront's story so far, check out our exclusive insight on the company's acquisition strategy.
Despite the opportunities for growth that M&A offers, many medium-sized legal firms are hesitant to do deals - In this recent insight, we tackle some of the prevailing myths that put companies off dealmaking.
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