Law firms Irwin Mitchell and Thomas Eggar have announced that they will merge to create a £250m legal services business that will be the 11th largest in the UK.
In the announcement, the firms say that the merger will offer a platform to significantly grow their combined business legal services operation, in which real estate will play a major role.
Irwin Mitchell’s real estate team of more than 80 lawyers in its offices in London, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham, including 30 partners, will combine with the 83 real estate lawyers, including 20 real estate partners, from Thomas Eggar, whose offices are primarily in the South East (London, Gatwick , Southampton, Chichester, Newbury and Worthing). The combined team will then consist of 50 partners and a total team of more than 160 lawyers specialising in real estate law.
Commenting on the merger, Paul Firth, national head of real estate at Irwin Mitchell said: “ This merger is very exciting – increasing the size of our real estate business by 80%, giving us even stronger UK coverage and broadening our offer for our real estate clients. We believe we are now one of the leading real estate practices in the UK. ”
Andrew Tucker, group chief executive of Irwin Mitchell, said: “A merger with one of the leading business and private client law firms in the South East will transform our group. It combines the strengths of two highly-respected businesses to create a dynamic, client-focused firm that will give us further scale, critical mass and a competitive advantage in our target markets.”
Vicky Brackett, managing partner at Thomas Eggar, added: “This is a really exciting merger of two great firms, and is great news for our real estate clients. Clients of both firms will benefit from a broader range of property expertise, particularly in areas such as planning and construction, and whether acting for a landlord, tenant or funder, our combined strength in numbers will deliver clients a service that is second to none.”
Thomas Eggar will adopt the Irwin Mitchell brand in the first half of 2016.
