Acquisitive Birmingham firm Shakespeares has continued its explosive growth of the last few years by announcing that it is set to combine with Leicester-based stalwart Harvey Ingram on 1 August 2012.
At press time both firms were expected to vote overwhelmingly in favour of a union in a partners’ ballot at each firm at the end of June, according to Shakespeares’ commercial director Hamish Munro.
Munro, who joined the firm in March 2012 from Guildhall Chambers in Bristol where he was chief executive, said: ‘This will be the largest merger for Shakespeares to date.’
The merged firm will create one of the biggest players in the region, with more than 500 fee-earners – second only to Birmingham blue blood Wragge & Co, which has 641 total fee-earners between its Birmingham and London offices.
‘This will be the largest merger for Shakespeares to date.’
Hamish Munro, Shakespeares
‘The firm has established a position as a challenger to the establishment in the Midlands,’ said Munro. ‘We are seen as a second tier adviser to FTSE 250 companies and there are plenty of opportunities for a firm like ours.’
In terms of financials, Munro said that Shakespeares will post growth of 4.2% this year, from £28.4m in 2010/11 to £29.6m in 2011/12. Significantly, the firm’s net income has grown by a third following a 42% rise in 2010/11 from £5.6m to £8m.
Harvey Ingram will bring revenues of around £19m to the table so combined turnover – without any growth projections – stands at approximately £50m. Looking at the 2011 LB100, that figure would place the firm at the top of the Central peer group table, well ahead of the £35.2m posted by Midlands rival Browne Jacobson.
Nationally, the firm’s revenues would see it jump 29 places in the LB100 rankings from 85 to 56, putting it on a par with Scotland’s Maclay Murray & Spens and ahead of Cobbetts, Walker Morris, Lewis Silkin and Dickson Minto.
‘Currently the firm employs around 450 people and is one of the largest firms in the region,’ said Munro. ‘But it’s fair to say that because of the way in which we’ve grown we’ve fallen below the radar of some of our local competitors.’
In 2009 Shakespeares chief executive, Paul Wilson, outlined a business strategy that predicted that the firm would hit £50m turnover by the end of 2015.Munro confirmed this target will now be met 18 months early. LB anticipates that growth in 2012 should reach around 3.9%, which should see the firm hit £50.5m turnover and net income of £13.6m in 2012/13.
This is the firm’s sixth merger since its first ambitious tie-up with Putsmans in 2007, which created an £18m regional contender out of two small locally focused Birmingham firms. Since then, Shakespeares has consumed Needham & James and Berryman in 2010 before acquiring specialist housing player Gorrara Haden and Solihull outfit Wood Glaister in 2011. The merger offers Shakespeares an established base in the East Midlands, particularly in Leicester.
The firm said that it would wait until this merger bedded in before looking for other ‘bolt-on’ opportunities, but that it didn’t expect any problems with integration following such a quick succession of mergers.
‘We had huge success integrating those businesses into our operations, and we expect the same success with Harvey Ingram,’ said Munro.
The firm’s client list includes names such as The Royal Bank of Scotland, E.ON, National Grid and Vodafone. Munro said it regularly acts for household names with a typical turnover of between £10m and £100m.
‘Some of our local firm rivals haven’t realised that we’ve sneaked up on them to advise multinationals and large corporates,’ he added.
The tie-up with Harvey Ingram is expected to particularly bolster Shakespeares’ strength in Birmingham mid-market deals as well as its private client practice, where Harvey Ingram has notable strength.
The firm has focused on reinvigorating its brand following Wilson’s statement to LB in 2008 that it had lost its way: ‘Shakespeares was stuck in the business of being nice; it lacked confidence.’
Although the firm is already considering its next move towards expansion, Munro said that there are no more mergers planned for 2012. The firm also confirmed that a London office is still not part of its strategy and it will not be looking to establish a platform in the City.