Corporate Finance Team supports disposal of Silk Family Law to Irwin Mitchell

Silk Family Law is ranked in tier one in the Legal 500 in the North East and operates out of Newcastle, Leeds and Richmond, North Yorkshire. The firm represents clients nationally in all aspects of matrimonial and family law cases, including financial and children matters.

How we helped

Legal Sector Partner Andy Poole and his team supported Silk Family Law by running a confidential marketing process, that resulted in the sale to national law firm, Irwin Mitchell.

The team explored the legal sector market, suggesting potentially suitable firms before making introductions and working with our client to broker an EBITDA multiple-based deal.

The team assisted with the due diligence process, the regulatory changes and the structure of the deal, then advised and negotiated on the commercial aspects of the Silk Family Law partners’ ongoing positions within Irwin Mitchell. Working closely with the partners’ other professional advisers, Armstrong Watson then project-managed the deal to completion.

Andy Poole said: “Our key input included negotiating complex facets of the deal structure, protecting our client’s interests, advising on the required ABS application and ensuring a tax-efficient extraction of consideration.”

Tax Partner Brian Rudkin and his team provided strategic tax advice to the Silk Family Law partners throughout the negotiations with Irwin Mitchell to ensure tax risks were being identified and managed, and to advise on the optimum tax outcome for the partners. This involved working closely with the wider Armstrong Watson team at each stage of the transaction and also linking in with the tax team at Irwin Mitchell on specific aspects.

Results

Silk Family Law is now part of Irwin Mitchell, with the acquisition being a key strategic move to expand their family law division, particularly in the North East.

Ian Kennerley, Managing Partner at Silk Family Law said: “We share the same values for client service and excellence and look forward to benefiting from the additional resources and support which will be available to our clients on a national and international basis.”

In a thank you to Armstrong Watson, he added: “Thank you one and all for your support – we could not have done it without you.”

Andy Poole added: “I’m thrilled to reach completion on a complex deal that took some time to get right, particularly given the share deal structure and the method of calculating consideration. Getting it right for all involved was tricky but we managed to ensure the right deal in the end.”