Listed law firm DWF announces two acquisitions as trading beats expectations
City law firm DWF has resumed M&A activity, acquiring two businesses after a strong year of trading amid the pandemic.
The listed firm this morning announced it had acquired compliance training business Zing 365 Holdings for £1.8m, as well as reaching an agreement to acquire BCA Claims & Consulting.
DWF said completion of the £2.2m acquisition of Canadian insurance claims firm BCA is expected to occur by the end of this week.
Together the deals are expected to add around £3m of revenue and £0.5m of adjusted profit before tax in 2022.
Shares in DWF jumped nine per cent in early trading this morning.
“We have a unique client proposition which offers integrated legal and business services,” chief executive Sir Nigel Knowles said. “This significant global addressable market supports our confidence that we can continue to deliver strong growth in all of our markets, both organically and through acquisitions.”
In a full-year trading statement this morning, DWF said group revenue had jumped 13 per cent to £338m and boasted £34m in adjusted profit before tax, beating market expectations.
It said all divisions delivered growth in the year versus the prior year.
Following what DWF claims to have been a transformational year, the firm currently expects to recommend a final dividend for the year of three pence per share, taking the total dividend to 4.5 pence per share.
“This is the first step towards normalising the dividend towards the target pay-out ratio of up to 70% of the Group’s profit after tax,” DWF said this morning.