Member Article

Fairpoint Group acquires Leeds’ Simpson Millar LLP for £7 million

Fairpoint Group plc, a provider of solutions to ‘financially stressed’ consumers, has announced that following approval from the Solicitors Regulation Authority, it has completed the acquisition of Leeds-based Simpson Millar LLP Solicitors.

Consideration for the acquisition has been satisfied by the initial payment of £7 million in cash and the issue of 1,415,529 new ordinary shares in the company to the selling shareholders of Simpson Millar.

The initial payment of £7 million in cash has been financed by a new, enlarged £20 million banking facility with AIB Group (UK) plc, as recently announced.

Further consideration of up to £6 million will be payable by Fairpoint based on the financial performance of Simpson Millar for two 12 month periods ending June 2015 and June 2016 (a maximum of £3 million will be payable in each 12 month period).

The Lancashire-based firm said that the transaction is “in line” with Fairpoint’s stated strategy of diversifying its income streams in adjacent markets such as legal services, where the Group can deploy its core skill of applying process to professional services.

Chris Moat, chief executive officer of Fairpoint, said: “We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of Simpson Millar, which represents an important step in diversifying our income streams into legal services, in line with our stated strategy.

“Simpson Millar has already made significant progress in developing a powerful consumer offering, through the combination of strong legal skills with the innovative application of technology and legal processes.

“From this solid platform, we look forward to working together to further develop the Group’s enlarged consumer-focused legal services business, accelerating the growth of the Group in this market and delivering enhanced earnings.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .