An established firm on the south coast has become the latest to join the private equity-backed Lawfront group. Trethowans, which has five offices in Hampshire and Dorset, will be a regional hub for the group, keeping its identity and branding but with the backing of central IT, marketing and AI support functions.

The latest deal comes as two former magic circle heavyweights have set up their own consultancy firm advising on law firm private equity buyouts.

Lawfront group's turnover has now moved past £130m based on an accumulation of firms across England by funding from private equity house Blixt.

Mike Watson, Trethowans managing partner, said the sale was the best way to accelerate growth following a year when turnover increased by more than 20%. ‘With Lawfront’s support, we look forward to expanding the Trethowans brand within our existing office locations and beyond,’ said Watson. ‘Being part of a larger group while preserving our brand identity and culture is a distinctive feature of Lawfront that made this partnership very compelling.’

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The firm has more than 200 staff and dates back more than 150 years. For the year ended 31 March 2024 it reported operating profit up  2.5% to £10.86m.

This is Lawfront’s sixth large regional firm acquisition and the thirteenth acquisition in total. The terms of the Trethowans deal have not been disclosed but Lawfront confirmed it was its largest acquisition to date.

The adoption of private equity in the UK legal sector is growing rapidly, with 25% of all legal mergers and acquisitions last year involving either new investments by private equity businesses or private equity-backed law firms. This was up from 20% in 2023. The likes of DWF, Fletchers and FBC Manby Bowdler are all owned by private equity investors.

Former Allen & Overy leaders Wim Dejonghe and David Morley have set up their own advisory firm to help firms through the transition to PE ownership. ‘Firms have strategic choices to make', Morley told the Financial Times. ‘Before long I think every firm is going to find themselves competing with some kind of private equity model.’