Listed firm Knights has finalised a £27 million deal to buy a chunk of south east firm Moore Barlow after months of talks.

The national consolidator will pay £18m upfront for the commercial and private wealth service lines, with a further £9m due over the next three years, subject to conditions being met. The other service lines of Moore Barlow (personal injury, clinical negligence and Court of Protection) will be sold separately immediately preceding the Knights transaction.

 

This is the second largest of the 29 acquisitions made by Knights since it started trading on the London Stock Exchange in 2018, exceeded only by the £30m deal reached with IBB Law in March last year.

The deal will result in 160 Moore Barlow fee earners transferring and the usual period of consolidation that is associated with Knights’ acquisitions. Moore Barlow operates from six locations: Richmond, Guildford, Woking, Southampton, Lymington and the City of London.

It has been confirmed that Woking and Guildford will be merged into a new location in Guildford while the City base will close. It has not been revealed how many support staff have been put at risk of redundancy.

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Moore Barlow’s services partly mirror Knights’ existing practice areas, particularly in property, private wealth and landed estates, whilst it will also add a schools and charities team, and in particular one of the leading teams in the UK in the private school advisory market. Knights said the combination creates opportunities for collaboration, cross-referrals and organic growth, supported by a central support infrastructure.

Knight chief executive David Beech said: ‘Moore Barlow is a strong cultural and operational fit with Knights. By combining its long-established regional reputation and talented people with our scale, broader capabilities and well-invested platform, we see a compelling opportunity to deliver further growth, enhance the service offered to clients and create more opportunities for our people.’

The firms had confirmed in March that talks were underway to create one of the south east’s largest regional legal businesses. Knights had earmarked the area for expansion, with several of its recent acquisitions based in the south east.

Moore Barlow has roots dating back more than 220 years and was formed in its current guise through the merger of Moore Blatch and Barlow Robbins in 2020.

Draft accounts for the year ended 30 April 2026 show revenue of £45m and profits distributable to members of £13m. The part of the business being acquired by Knights represents approximately 70%, or £30m of revenue.

In the year to April 2025, the firm reported revenue of £42m and operating profit of £10.4m. At that time, Moore Barlow had 447 staff and 58 members.

Ed Whittington, a director of the firm, said: ‘Joining Knights marks an exciting next chapter for Moore Barlow. The combination will allow us to build on our long heritage, strong regional presence and specialist expertise, while giving our clients access to a broader range of services and the resources of a business with national scale.’

Shares in Knights Group Holdings plc fell by 2% to 172.5p following the first hour of trading.

The clinical negligence and personal injury teams of Moore Barlow will join Fletchers Solicitors, while the Court of Protection team will join EMG Solicitors, the specialist Court of Protection business within Fletchers Group.

Fletchers Group will also acquire Moore Barlow’s interest in Aspire Law, its joint venture with spinal cord injury charity Aspire. Aspire Law will become part of Fletchers Solicitors and continue to operate under its established brand.

Dr Trevor Sterling, senior partner and chair of the personal injury and clinical division at Moore Barlow, said: 'The legal market for claimant injury work has become increasingly focused on consolidating specialisms. Against that backdrop, we believe Fletchers Group represents the right long-term home for our clients and our colleagues.'