SYDNEY, Australia — Slater and Gordon, the Australian law firm that was the first in the world to list on a stock exchange, said on Monday that it planned to buy the professional services unit of Quindell for 637 million pounds, or about $947 million, to become Britain’s leading personal injury law firm.
“The acquisition is a transformational opportunity and will allow Slater and Gordon to further penetrate the highly fragmented 2.5 billion pound U.K. personal injury market,” Andrew Grech, Slater and Gordon’s managing director, said in a statement.
The deal is conditional on the approval of more than 50 percent of Quindell shareholders in a vote scheduled for April 17. The Quindell board supports the transaction.
In the last five years Slater and Gordon has made at least a dozen acquisitions in Britain and Australia that has helped increase its revenue to 419 million Australian dollars last year from 63 million Australian dollars in 2007, when it first went public on the stock market, according to a presentation to investors.
Slater and Gordon also said the acquisition of Quindell’s professional services division would increase its market share among British personal injury law to about 12 percent from the current 5 percent.
Still, the acquisition is not without risks for Slater and Gordon. Some analysts have questioned how Quindell’s professional services division has been accounting for profits.
“The proposed acquisition follows extensive due diligence,” Mr. Grech said. Under Slater and Gordon ownership, he said, Quindell’s professional services division “will be reoriented to focus on fast-track road accident, employers liability and public liability claims. Existing noise-induced hearing-loss cases’ file portfolio will be expedited to drive claims resolution and maximize cash generation.”
Slater and Gordon has hired Citigroup and the Australian investment bank Macquarie Group to sell shares worth 890 million Australian dollars to help finance the transaction. The law firm is also borrowing 375 million Australian dollars to pay for the deal. Greenhill & Company also advised Slater and Gordon along with the law firms Macfarlanes and Arnold Bloch Leibler.