In its largest acquisition to date, Gateley, the legal and professional services group, has snapped up Smithers Purslow for a total maximum consideration of £20 million, with an initial consideration of £12.15 million payable on completion – around 56% in shares and 44% in cash.
Established in 1978, Smithers Purslow is a multi-disciplinary chartered surveying practice, comprising building and quantity surveyors and civil and structural engineers. Specialising in services to the property insurance claims market, it resolves high value claims for insurers, policy holders and their advisers.
The senior management team will continue to lead the business, renamed Gateley Smithers Purslow.
Smithers Purslow has delivered compound annual growth in revenue and EBITDA of more than 20 per cent over the last five years. In the year ended 30 September 2021, organic revenue increased by 22.3 per cent to £11.7 million, generating adjusted profit before tax of £2.5 million.
Smithers Purslow operates from ten regional offices across the UK and employs 130 staff.
Rod Waldie, Gateley Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Smithers Purslow team to the group. This is another dynamic business that further expands the breadth of capability in our already strong Property Platform.
“Smithers Purslow’s growth over the last decade has been impressive and it is a highly regarded market leader in the property insurance claims sector, in which we see significant opportunity to develop broader and deeper relationships with insurers and insurance intermediaries.
“The existing synergies between Smithers Purslow and Gateley Vinden, across a number of their multi-disciplinary service lines, extend the depth of our expertise and provide additional capacity to maximise on the opportunities presented in this sizeable and growing market and the wider built-environment consultancy space.
“This is our largest acquisition to date and is a clear demonstration of our commitment to invest and grow our market-facing Platforms, as well as to continue to strengthen our resilience through diversification.”
