Summary: Australia’s Slater Gordon to acquire arm of Britain’s Quindell.
Australia’s Slater and Gordon continues their onslaught of acquisitions – with at least 12 of them in the last 5 years – to take on the professional services unit of Britain’s Quindell. They announced Monday that they would pay about $947 million Australian dollars ($721 million U.S. dollars), financing the purchase with $890 million gained from sold shares, and another $375 million borrowed. To handle the schematics of their endeavor, they’ve hired Citigroup, Australian investment bank Macquarie Group, and taken the advice of Greenhill & Company, Macfarlanes, and Arnold Block Leibler.
“The acquisition is a transformational opportunity and will allow Slater and Gordon to further penetrate the highly fragmented 2.5 billion pound U.K. personal injury market,” said Andrew Grech, Slater and Gordon’s managing director.
“The proposed acquisition follows extensive due diligence,” he further stated, and once they’ve claimed Quindell, they “will be reoriented to focus on fast-track road accident, employers liability and public liability claims. Existing noise-induced hearing-loss cases’ file portfolio will be expedited to drive claims resolution and maximize cash generation.”
So, in other words, they intend to take Quindell’s professional service division, increasing their market share from 5 to 12 percent, and then pinch Quindell to hurry things up in the money-making process.
As the world’s first law firm to list on a stock exchange, they know what they are about, and continue their aggressive growth on a global level.
News Source: NYTimes