Irwin Mitchell and Thomas Eggar complete merger to form £250m legal business

Sheffield-headquartered law firm Irwin Mitchell and Thomas Eggar, based in West Sussex, completed their merger today (Thursday 17th December), creating a £250m legal business in 15 locations with nearly 300 partners.

The merger will transform the structure of the Group. Legal services to businesses and high net-worth private client work will together account for half the Group’s turnover. The personal injury business - 80% of which is made up of high-value, complex cases - will account for the remainder.

Since announcing the merger, the firm has been completing a Tupe consultation for the transfer of Thomas Eggar’s staff to Irwin Mitchell. All Full Equity Members and Fixed Share Members of Thomas Eggar are joining IM LLP on the same status.

Andrew Tucker, Irwin Mitchell’s group chief executive, has claimed more mergers and acquisitions could yet follow as the Group - now the 11th largest legal business in the UK - plans to strengthen its business legal services, private client and personal injury divisions still further.

He said: “This merger is truly transformational for our business and marks the start of a new era. Our combined business legal services and high net-worth private client divisions now account for about 50% of our business and will become ever more important. The merger also significantly strengthens our presence in London and the south and means that for the first time more than half our turnover will come from the southern half of the UK.

“We plan significant investment in our business, private client and complex personal injury practices, and mergers and acquisitions are a key part of our strategy to give us the scale and breadth of service that clients demand.

“We have completed seven M&A deals since being granted an ABS licence in 2012. Our last was the acquisition of private wealth firm Berkeley Law in 2014 and we have a pipeline of further potential opportunities that we are working our way through. However, we will complete mergers or acquisitions only if they make sense, and will complete deals only if they add significant value to our firm.”

Vicky Brackett, managing partner at Thomas Eggar, added: “This is an exciting time for all of us at Irwin Mitchell and Thomas Eggar. This merger is a catalyst for change and combining the strengths of both our firms will create a business that is among the best in the industry. We have significantly increased our presence across a large part of the country and that presents significant opportunities to offer a wider range of services to a larger number of clients in a more diverse range of sectors.”

Irwin Mitchell and Thomas Eggar announced their merger on 25th November. The deal will:

• See turnover in the merged business team rise to more than £80m. Specialists in the combined team will provide a range of services to the retail, financial services, technology, media and manufacturing sectors, and advise on employment, real estate, commercial litigation, banking and intellectual property law.
• Combine the strength and experience of the private wealth teams from Irwin Mitchell, Thomas Eggar and Berkeley Law – acquired by Irwin Mitchell in November 2014 – to create a top-five private client offering, with plans for significant growth
• Continue both firms’ geographic expansion, adding Thomas Eggar’s six offices in London and the south-east to the 11 national offices that carry the Irwin Mitchell name, plus additional offices for Berkeley Law in Mayfair.

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