After two rounds of failed merger talks Davenport Lyons went into administration at the end of April, with Mayfair firm Gordon Dadds confirming that it had taken on the client database, the majority of assets and secured nearly all of the partners of the West End firm.
The terms of the sale were agreed the week before by joint administrator Baker Tilly. A spokesman from Davenport Lyons said: ‘As of close of business on Friday 25 April, the legal entity known as Davenport Lyons ceased trading and the majority of the company’s client balances, work in progress and client files have been transferred to Gordon Dadds, who will also be collecting debtor balances on behalf of the administrator.
‘Gordon Dadds has entered into arrangements with the majority of the partners of Davenport Lyons to enable them to continue to care for their existing clients and a number of Davenport Lyons staff will also be joining Gordon Dadds.’
Davenport Lyons had around 73 fee-earners, in addition to its 42 partners, and the firm said approximately 80 staff will transfer to Gordon Dadds, including 30 partners.
The firm had struggled recently, with revenues down 11% from £24.5m to £21.9m in 2012/13, while profit per equity partner dropped 12.5% to £197,000. Since the start of this year, the firm has gone through failed merger talks with both HowardKennedyFsi and Shakespeares amid growing speculation over its finances, although it had previously denied publicly it was in financial difficulty. HowardKennedyFsi called off the talks at the end of February, just weeks after Shakespeares took the same decision.
Adrian Biles, managing partner of Gordon Dadds, said: ‘We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with so many of the excellent people and clients of Davenport Lyons. The additional intellectual capital and depth of expertise will add to our capabilities.’ The combined entity will be a UK top 100 firm, operating out of offices in Mayfair and Covent Garden.