Law Debenture buys company secretarial business – The Law Debenture Corporation has entered into a binding agreement to acquire the company secretarial unit of Konexo UK, a division of Eversheds Sutherland International LLP. The total consideration is £20m, payable in cash.
For the financial year ended 30 April 2020, this unit recorded revenues of £6.2m and estimated EBITDA of £2.2m.
Andy Casey, the head of the unit, will transfer to Law Debenture. Andy is a Chartered Company Secretary with 14 years’ industry experience. He joined Konexo in 2015 and was promoted to head of company secretarial services in 2018. Prior to joining Konexo, he spent 9 years with PwC.
Law Debenture believes that the company secretarial sector offers long-term structural growth opportunities with favourable regulatory drivers. Demand for governance services is growing strongly for corporates as they face ever-increasing compliance requirements and disclosure obligations. In addition, there are significant longer-term revenue synergy opportunities with the potential for cross-selling within accounting services.
The statement says that the acquisition helps strengthen Law Debenture’s earnings outlook, which helps facilitate dividend distributions, supports long-term capital growth and steadily increasing income objectives. The acquisition is also expected to be earnings per share enhancing.
Completion of the acquisition is expected by the end of January 2021.
The unit has been established for 15 years and has both UK and international sector expertise. The transferring team has 55 employees, with 15 based in London, 1 in Hong Kong and the remainder in Manchester. The business services a client base of 480 in more than 100 jurisdictions.
[This looks like good news for Law Debenture shareholders. If you want more background on Law Debenture, we have a recent interview with Denis Jackson and James Henderson that should tell you all you need to know.]
LWDB : Law Debenture buys company secretarial business