Vancouver-based Whitelaw Twining is set to become a rare law firm that is part of a publicly traded company thanks to London, England-based DWF Group (LON:DWF) announcing plans to buy it for $42.6 million.
The transaction has been in the works for the past year and is set to close by the end of this month, Whitelaw Twining's country managing partner Dan Shugarman told BIV.
He said he believes the deal will make his firm the only Canadian law firm that is part of a public company.
DWF has a large law practice but also offers a range of other business services. Whitelaw Twining is a full-service litigation firm that specializes in insurance, commercial litigation, personal injury and dispute resolution. Shugarman said that there has long been an overlap, with DWF and Whitelaw Twining providing the same clients with different services.
Whitelaw Twining will largely operate as its own division within DWF, but share-based compensation plans mean employees will be able to benefit if DWF does well in the future.
"As the DWF Group succeeds and thrives, so too will all the shareholders of Whitelaw Twining thrive and succeed," Shugarman said.
Whitelaw Twining has about 220 employees in B.C. and Alberta, with 160 of those workers based in Vancouver, including 65 lawyers, he said.
The firm, founded in Vancouver in 1979 with three partners, now has 16 partners.
The current compensation model involves associate lawyers and others getting salaries and partners sharing profit, with some variation in partners' compensation levels depending on individual contributions, Shugarman said.
Whitelaw Twining last year generated $34.5 million in revenue and $5.3 million in pro-forma earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). DWF listed Whitelaw Twining's assets as being valued at $21.6 million.
Shugarman said part of the $42.6 million purchase price will go to "a lot of different places," likely related to costs of the transaction, but that "the current owners of this business are going to share substantially in that consideration."
