Merger Mania

This week Armstrong Watson’s article in the Law Society Gazette raised some energetic debate on PiKS; the personal injury sector’s online collaborative hub.

An August advertisement update from accountancy firm Armstrong Watson highlights 13 M&A opportunities.

Andy Poole, legal sector partner at Armstrong Watson, told theGazette he was seeing more law firm M&As than ever before. Earlier this year Armstrong Watson was instructed in 16 different mergers at the same time.

The firm is currently engaged in nine.

Poole said: ‘A lot of the activity is driven by challenges in personal injury. There are a lot of pressures being put on PI firms because of recent changes includingbanning referral fees and the ability to recover success fees from losing parties. There are firms where the average income per case is lower than their acquisitions.’

Succession planning is another driver behind M&A activity, Poole noted.

‘There are a lot of partners looking towards retirement on the horizon. They may want to become part of a bigger firm with people who can replace them.’