Knights acquires Turner Parkinson

Knights 1759 is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire Turner Parkinson, the independent business law firm based in Manchester.  The acquisition is expected to complete in the coming weeks.

Located in Manchester city centre, the acquisition will increase Knights’ presence in the North West, adding 60 new employees in its seventh regional office.

Turner Parkinson was first established in 1995 in the North West and has grown rapidly over the last 6 years. It has built a strong client database of entrepreneurs, corporates, private equity houses, small and mid-cap plc’s and emerging high growth companies.  Its revenues for the year ended 30 April 2018 were £8.5m, representing 11% organic growth on the prior year.

Turner Parkinson has consistently been ranked among the top law firms for deal volume across the North West over the past five years and is a high quality, high growth and very profitable business with a focussed core of business services that complements and enhances Knights’ current offering.  Aside from Mark Openshaw-Blower, Managing Partner, who is to retire, Turner Parkinson’s senior management team will be staying with the business following the transaction.

The acquisition will be Knights’ fourth in five years and aims to build on the Group’s successful track record of identifying, executing and integrating earnings enhancing transactions.  These acquisitions, alongside the Group’s organic growth strategy, has seen Knights deliver topline growth at a compound annual growth rate of 32% over the past five years, making it one of the fastest growing professional services business in the UK.

This acquisition will increase Knights’ resource to over 500 people servicing 7500 clients across the full spectrum of legal & professional services.  Following the UK Legal Services Act in 2007, Knights was the first commercial law firm to switch away from the partnership model and obtain private equity investment in 2012, adopting a corporate structure with a clear separation between ownership / management and fee earners.

Commenting on the acquisition, David Beech, CEO at Knights, said: “We are delighted to be working with Turner Parkinson.  They are market leaders in their field and their innovative and entrepreneurial culture is very similar to our own.  They bring with them a quality client list and a renowned reputation for excellence so we are incredibly excited to be working with James and the team.”

James Sheridan, Head of Corporate at Turner Parkinson added: “Knights has a strong business model, with a highly regarded client base and are pioneers of an ownership model that represents the future of the legal industry.  We have worked hard to build a strong, profitable and cash generative business and I am confident that this, alongside Knights’ fast growing regional professional services business, will result in a business that is even better positioned to meet the needs of our clients and employees.”