Russell Jones & Walker (RJW) has become the latest firm to be licensed as an alternative business structure (ABS) by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), with the approval allowing Australia's Slater & Gordon to go ahead with its £53.8m acquisition of the UK personal injury specialist firm.

The deal will see the 80-year-old UK law firm, which has 10 offices and 400 staff, come under the ownership of Slater & Gordon, the first publicly-listed Australian law firm. It also includes RJW's consumer brand Claims Direct.

RJW chief executive Neil Kinsella said: "This is an exciting new chapter in our history and is an important step towards us achieving our ambition of becoming the largest and most trusted brand for personal legal services in the UK."

SRA chief executive Antony Townsend (pictured) added: "This new licensed body combines a wealth of legal services in Russell Jones & Walker with the experience of the Australian law firm Slater & Gordon. It is a further example of the kind of innovation which ABSs are bringing to the legal services market."

The acquisition, which was announced in January, will be structured with an initial cash payment of £36.4m, of which £8.8m will be deferred for up to two years subject to performance targets, while £10.3m will be used to pay off RJW bank debt. Slater & Gordon will also issue £17.4m in shares.

The UK business will trade as 'Russell Jones & Walker part of Slater & Gordon Lawyers'.

Melbourne-based plaintiffs firm Slater & Gordon secured its landmark listing in May 2007, taking advantage of an overhaul of the regulatory framework in the Australian legal market that allowed firms to form multidisciplinary partnerships with non-lawyers, to incorporate and seek external investment.

Confirmation that the SRA had approved RJW's application, made it the fifth ABS to be named by the regulator. The news came after the SRA announced earlier this week that it had also handed an ABS license to 260-staff Cardiff personal injury firm NewLaw Legal Limited (24 April), which has non-lawyer owners.

The newly licensed pair joins the Co-operative Legal Services, John Welch and Stammers, Lawbridge Solicitors Ltd which became the first three ABSs last month (28 March). The SRA started accepting ABS applications on 3 January, after being designated a licensing body by the Ministry of Justice in December 2011, and has now received 74 final-stage application forms, after initial interest from more than 200 applicants.