Quantuma completes pre-pack sale of McMillan Williams Solicitors Ltd
Sean Bucknall and Andy Hosking of business advisory firm Quantuma, have been appointed as joint administrators of McMillan Williams Solicitors Limited (“MW”) and have confirmed the sale of the business to Taylor Rose TTKW Limited.
MW was founded in 1983 and was later co-incorporated in 2013. The firm is headquartered in Croyden and has numerous offices across the South of England.
The business, which had a turnover in excess of £30m for the year ended April 2019, is a multi-discipline law firm providing legal aid, private client, complex clinical negligence and person injury claim services as well as consumer and commercial property services. Historic aged debt has placed pressure on cashflow which has been exasperated as a direct result of Covid-19.
The firm entered administration on 19 May 2020 and Quantuma has confirmed the sale to legal consolidator Taylor Rose TTKW Limited. All 420 McMillan Williams staff will be transferred as part of the acquisition, thereby preserving jobs and will see the combined firm become the UK’s fifth largest residential conveyancer, generating revenues of c£45m.
The company has 32 offices nationwide covering Cumbria to Sussex. Its headquarters are in Peterborough and London.
Pinsent Masons banking & restructuring partner Steven Cottee advised the joint administrators on the transaction. Professional practices partner Samantha Palmer provided advice surrounding the regulatory aspects of the transaction and has subsequently been appointed as the solicitor manager.
Quantuma partner and joint administrator, Sean Bucknall said: “Historic debt and limited headroom within existing facilities has meant that MW were unable to secure additional working capital to weather the current economic climate.
The sale to Taylor Rose provides the best possible outcome for the firm and its creditors as well as protecting clients’ interests, preserving hundreds of jobs and creating a strong combined brand.
The high fixed cost base and highly leverage model of many law-firms leaves them particularly vulnerable to the fall-out from the Covid-19 pandemic. We are already seeing many law firms already in serious financial difficulty and unfortunately this administration will be the first of many”.
