Skadden and Freshfields have been called in for Walkers’ deal with private equity firm Vitruvian Partners to co-invest in its corporate services business.
Skadden is acting for Walkers, a leading offshore law firm headquartered in the Cayman Islands, on the deal while Freshfields is counselling Vitruvian Partners.
The deal will see Vitruvian Partners and Walkers share ownership of Walkers Professional Services (WPS) and jointly commit to expanding the business, which provides corporate services to global private equity and hedge funds, CLO managers, trusts and financial institutions. The investment will support the roll-out of best-in-class technology for WPS, broaden its service offering and expand its presence in new markets.
The Skadden team was led in London by private equity partners Richard Youle, Katja Butler and IP and technology partner Deborah Kirk, alongside European counsel Tori Sellwood.
Meanwhile, the Freshfields effort was headed by private equity partners Alastair Brown and Tim Wilmot. The team also included partners Allison Liff (leveraged finance); Giles Pratt (IP, tech and separation); Claire Harrop (financial regulatory); May Smith (tax); David Mendel (employment and incentives); Ali Kirby-Harris (risk and disputes); and Martin McElwee (antitrust).
Freshfields is also guiding Vitruvian on its proposed sale of cloud services provider Solvinity to IT business Kyndryl. For its part, Vitruvian is a mid-market private equity firm that focuses on sectors like IT, financial services and healthcare, including investments in Wise, Vestiaire Collective and Oxford Biomedica.
Ingrid Pierce, global managing partner of Walkers, said the partnership with Vitruvian “presents a significant opportunity to extend WPS into new markets, enhance its service range and drive efficiencies”.
The deal, which is subject to customary regulatory approval, comes amid rising interest in law firms from private equity houses, drawn to the profession by its stable revenue models and growth potential. For law firms, an injection of PE capital could help them to invest in technology and top hires in a hyper-competitive market.
Earlier this month McDermott Will & Schulte confirmed it was considering a restructuring that would enable private equity firms to take a financial stake in it, in a move that could provide a template for other large US and international firms.
Meanwhile, PE investment in the UK legal sector reached a record high of £534m in 2024, according to research by law firm M&A broker Acquira Professional Services, spurred by significant capital reserves and the country’s liberalised legal market, though investment remains small in relation to the overall size of the market.
Private equity has focused mostly on regional and mid-market firms in the UK, though there have been deals involving larger firms, with Inflexion’s £342m take-private of listed firm DWF the most high-profile to date.
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