London firm accepts 7m offer from media company

London practice Statham Gill Davies has become the second law firm to be bought in part by a company, after business services group Tenon paid a reported 7 million for the media and entertainment specialists.Owing to the ban on fee-sharing, the firm's solicitors are joining Tenon as legal advisers and will give up their practising certificates.

The firm's litigators will go into a two-partner firm, Anderson Forbes, as litigation is a reserved activity for solicitors.'Our litigation services will be available from Anderson Forbes, which will be run by two former partners and an assistant from Statham Gill Davies,' said senior partner Kaz Gill.

'All other fee-earners, including five equity partners, will move to Tenon - but will continue to work closely with the new firm.'Mr Gill said the services offered by Statham Gill, which boasts high-profile music clients such as Oasis, were a 'good fit' with those offered by Tenon.

'I think our clients will benefit from the enhanced range and quality of services we will be able to offer,' he said.Alison Crawley, the Law Society's head of professional ethics, said she understood why firms would want to get involved in such an arrangement with a non-legal organisation.'It's a shame that the only way to do this was for solicitors in Statham Gill to become non-solicitors,' she said.

'The Law Society is looking at other ways this may be possible in the future, but it may require new legislation.'In 1999, the Brentwood and Woking offices of law firm EDC Lord & Co - consisting of two partners and 60 staff - were bought by estate agents Hambro Countrywide Conveyancing (see [1999] Gazette, 13 January, 1).Andrew Towler