The Gordon Dadds Group has acquired its first law firm - buying up White & Black for £3.4m. The firm specialises in technology and corporate law and related intellectual property and dispute aspects. It was described to investors as having a substantial international client base and a strong presence in the Far East, comprising mainly corporate, private equity and investment clients. As part of the deal, White & Black will continue to operate as a separate business from London and Oxfordshire under its current name. It will recieve a payment of £1.7m on completion and a further £1.2m paid over the next three. For the year ended October, White & Black generated a pretax profit of £660,000 on net fee income of £2.6 million.

Specialist acquisition

'I am delighted to have completed our second focussed and specialist acquisition after Gordon Dadds' successful IPO in August 2017,' Gordon Dadds chief executive officer Adrian Biles said. 'White & Black Ltd is a highly regarded and profitable business which will add to the group's expertise in the technology and corporate space. It will also provide further opportunities for cross-selling services within the group.'  Phil Riman, CEO of White & Black, added: 'We are excited to be working with Adrian and his team to further the development of our business and take us to the next stage. The increased range of services we have access to within Gordon Dadds will enable us to deal with a larger proportion of our clients' needs and those of their key people without any dilution of our specialist offering.'

Attracting profitable business

Gordon Dadds raised £20m through an initial public offering in August 2017. It completed an earlier deal for a corporate tax consultany to the oil and gas industry, CW Energy,  after August’s admission. Commenting on the latest deal, Mr Biles added:  'This acquisition demonstrates Gordon Dadds' ability to attract profitable, growing businesses and the acquired White & Black brand will benefit from being part of the enlarged group with access to a wider range of services.'