Equity funders who already own a leading medical negligence firm have bought a company specialising in finding claims. Sun European Partners has announced a deal to acquire Manchester-based claim acquisition outfit Blume, on the back of its acquisition of north west firm Fletchers Group last year.

The two companies will be run separately, with Blume – until September known as mmadigital – continuing to generate leads for other firms as well as for Fletchers.

Sun Capital said the deal gives Blume greater scale and reach to extend the service offers to panel firms. Its chief executive Dez Derry will continue to lead the business and joins a wider leadership team, which includes Blume’s chief operating officer Steve Evans and Fletchers’ chief marketing officer Alex Kenny.

Once the transaction completes, Blume will join an expanded Fletchers Group and take responsibility for Fletchers’ consumer operations including The Medical Law Network, a marketing network for medical negligence law firms owned by Fletchers and its customer-facing brand, Patient Claim Line.

Alex Wyndham, principal at Sun European Partners, said: ‘The transformation of the legal landscape in recent times makes this an exciting time for M&A. Areas that are insulated from recession such as personal injury and medical negligence means legal services is an attractive proposition, and this acquisition gives us a strong foothold in the sector.

Peter Haden, Dez Derry, Steven Evans

(L-R): Peter Haden, Dez Derry, Steve Evans

‘We are focused on seeking out and nurturing promising scale-ups such as Blume to help build the industries of the future and our expectation is that we will be completing more deals in this sector during the next 18 months.’

Peter Haden, chief executive of Fletchers Group, told the Gazette that claims will be ring-fenced for Blume’s panel firms to ensure there is no preferential treatment for its stablemate.

A year since the initial investment, Haden said Fletchers is on course to continue growing, with plans to expand into Liverpool in the next six months and then other locations in the rest of the country, through organic growth and acquisitions.

The group aims to expand from around 600 staff to more than 1,000 within the next four years, and to double turnover to £100m over the same timeframe.

‘The market is so fragmented and there is potential to happily grow for the next five to 10 years,’ Haden said.

 

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