City analysts have revealed why the "attractive" £28m acquisition of a Canadian law firm is good news for expanding counterpart DWF.
The listed group, which has offices in Manchester, Liverpool, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London and Newcastle, is to snap up Whitelaw Twining Law Corporation.
The deal values the company, which was founded in Vancouver in 1979, at £27.7m. It now has 16 partners and more than 200 employees.
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After the deal was announced to the London Stock Exchange, analysts at Panmure Gordon have revealed why they think the move is a positive one for DWF.
The firm said: "Structurally we see upside especially from market share gains, international expansion and further operational improvements and we believe that the shares are cheap."
Shares in DWF have risen by just over 1% since the deal was confirmed and are trading at 70p each.
Its shares had previously been at their lowest point since September 2020.
Sir Nigel Knowles, group CEO at DWF, said: "We are delighted to be enhancing our offering in the Canadian legal market.
"Whitelaw Twining is one of the country's top legal businesses and represents a high quality opportunity for our clients.
"It also allows us to expand our claims and adjusting presence in Canada and wider Connected Services and Mindcrest capabilities in North America.
"We have worked hard to ensure DWF is in a strong position so we can confidently make these key international acquisitions, enabling us to make further progress against our strategy to be the preeminent global provider of integrated legal and business services.
"I look forward to working with our new colleagues. We identified a strong cultural fit with the Whitelaw Twining management team and the values and ways of working within their business. Their emphasis on internal collaboration over competition and on creating a progressive, innovative, and supportive working environment reflect our own 'one team' culture."
Daniel Shugarman, country managing partner of Whitelaw Twining, added: "We are excited to be forming a partnership with the DWF Group, combining our respective legal advisory and connected services capabilities for the benefit of our clients.
"Over 40 years, Whitelaw Twining has gone from a three-person practice in Vancouver to a diverse, full-service litigation law firm serving clients in 17 languages.
"This is the next step forward for our business, further strengthening our position in Canada and creating opportunities for our colleagues to support clients globally.
"We already know DWF well, in particular, its Canadian claims and adjusting practice. We recognise the shared values and 'one team' approach of our two businesses and we are delighted that through DWF Group's listed company status we are able to make our Whitelaw Twining colleagues shareholders with an opportunity to benefit from our future success."
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