New national law firm Lawfront has made its fourth acquisition in 12 months, buying Nelsons.
The new owner said the move would significantly accelerate Nelson’s growth strategy in the East Midlands, from its offices in Leicester, Nottingham and Derby.
The acquisition doubles the size of Lawfront, which was only founded in 2021, taking it to annual revenues of £41 million-plus. It was set up by London-based Blixt Group, which invests in mid-market companies across Europe.
It is Lawfront’s fifth acquisition overall, and gives it a stronger foothold in the East Midlands to grow further in the region. It also has further plans to expand nationally with more acquisitions.
The transaction was announced to the Nelsons team on the firm’s 40th anniversary, along with news that it would be “business as usual” for clients, and that all staff would be retained.
Nelsons has multiple Tier One rankings in The Legal 500 and has made its debut in The Times’ Top 250 law firms list for its personal injury and clinical negligence expertise.
Lawfront chief executive Neil Lloyd said: “I am delighted that Nelsons has decided to join Lawfront. It is a big step towards achieving our vision of a high-quality, national legal services business.
“Nelsons is an excellent law firm, with a reputation for quality legal advice. Vitally, it is closely aligned with Lawfront culture, focusing on retaining the very best people in the profession to deliver the very best service to our clients.
“We enter the East Midlands with a high performance, ambitious team that will allow us to grow strongly in the region, both organically and through further acquisitions.”
Nelsons chief executive Stewart Vandermark said: “It was clear early on that Lawfront was a great fit for Nelsons, bringing greater opportunities for all our colleagues and enhancing the services we can offer to our clients.
“Nelsons has consistently achieved excellent results and we wanted to remain at the forefront of the consolidating legal market – joining Lawfront ensures that for our ambitious team.
“Working with a business whose own culture and behaviours aligned with ours was key for us. We are excited about the next stage of our journey with Lawfront and realising the bold and ambitious plans we’ve set out to achieve.”
Blixt chief executive Carl Harring said: “We are delighted to be working with Nelsons through our investment in Lawfront.
“The quality, culture and growth ambition of the business, combined with their commitment to the team and their clients, makes this a very strong addition to Lawfront, alongside our other firms FJG and Farleys.
“We are excited about our investment in the legal sector and the opportunity to partner with the team at Nelsons and other like-minded law firms to accelerate their growth.”
