Former Dragons' Den investor James Caan says his Knights deal may put the firm into top 100 in three years. Georgina Stanley reports

"Lawyers are good at words, not numbers, so bringing in external people will have a transformative impact," predicts former Dragons' Den star, and chief executive of buyout house Hamilton Bradshaw, James Caan of his investment in Midlands practice Knights Solicitors.

The deal, announced in June after months of research by Hamilton Bradshaw, will see Caan sitting on the board of Knights with the expectation that his name, combined with the investment, will catapult Knights into the top 100 UK law firms by revenue within three to five years.

"Five years would be a conservative expectation of how long it will take to put Knights into the top 100," says Caan. "Its turnover is roughly £9m now and I'd expect that to rise to between £20m and £25m in five years.

"My name and the additional investment will add a different dimension to the business, making it easier to attract talent into the business and add on new sectors. It's a huge opportunity."

The planned growth will see the three-office commercial firm, formed in 1759 and headquartered in Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, bolting on smaller firms and teams of individuals under the Knights banner, with Caan planning to capitalise on the brand by launching sector-specific subdivisions such as, for example, Knights Real Estate.

Knights will also be aiming to follow up on its involvement with Hogan Lovells' Mexican Wave venture, which has seen Knights working with the transatlantic firm, providing its clients with real estate advice at regional prices. This could mean linking up with other London law firms to offer their clients cheaper advice, as well as potentially targeting clients directly.

caan-james-2Caan states: "It's about learning how to deliver work in each sector profitably: looking at pricing and structuring work differently depending on the sector, while developing a brand and a presence, with a cost base that remains outside London."

The deal – still awaiting approval from the Solicitors Regulation Authority as strategic plans are being finalised – has been billed as the first direct injection of external capital into a commercial law firm.

Hamilton Bradshaw joins only a handful of companies to put money into law firms since the market opened up through the Legal Services Act. In contrast to previous deals, such as Duke Street's investment into personal injury specialist Parabis Group, it is the first to put money into a full-service commercial law firm.

And, of course, it marks a significant departure for Caan, who made his name in the recruitment space, a sector in which Hamilton Bradshaw has invested heavily.

While Caan maintains the parallels between law and recruitment are significant – stressing that both are people businesses and therefore share similar structural issues and cost bases – there is no denying the gap between the two sectors, so what prompted the interest?

Caan responds: "I've never felt so motivated. I passionately believe that the deregulation of the industry offers huge opportunities. With 11,000 law firms in the UK, it really is a cottage industry. So an opportunity like this – where legislation is enabling private investment into the industry for the first time – will result in dramatic change and, as a private equity firm, it could present an attractive return. There is huge opportunity for consolidation."

According to the entrepreneur, the impact on the legal sector of outside investment is clear: strong management under the leadership of a highly-paid chief executive will make growth easier to achieve than in a traditional partnership, where decision-making is constrained by the need for consensus.

The difficulty is most firms are not ready for the changes outside capital requires. This made it hard to find the right firm to invest in. Knights – under the leadership of managing partner David Beech, who joined the firm in October 2011 having previously held the same role at Heatons, before subsequently joining private equity house Arev – was an exception.

Caan says: "What we liked was that David had already worked with private equity, and that the firm had already shown the lateral thought to bring in external management. With other firms, although the motivation is there, the awareness is not. It involves radical changes: to remuneration, corporate structure, pricing, mindset – everything changes."

But once firms have made that shift – in particular, when it comes to paying out profits to partners – the benefits will be significant.

"The ramification of external investment is much, much wider than just attracting capital. What is more interesting is the impact outside investment will have on the business. The current model of a law firm doesn't work from an investment perspective because they pay out all their profits every year to partners. Firms looking to raise external funding need to change that model."

And Knights offers Caan the chance to prove it can be done and to show that it can be successful both for Knights and Hamilton Bradshaw, which will be looking for an exit in about five years – probably to another buyout house.

Caan comments: "If we can demonstrate that we can grow and create a business with a much more conventional structure, then a larger private equity player may be interested in buying us. The market needs to see a demonstrable example that it can be done."

Caan believes interest from private equity will grow as the return on investment becomes apparent. "The legal sector needs deals like this. It has been stuck in its ways for 100 years so, hopefully, once people understand how to manage it, it'll happen more.

"Bringing in an external investor instantly allows you to bring in and use people with different skills and experience and that can only be a good thing."

Former Dragons' Den investor James Caan says his Knights deal may put the firm into top 100 in three years. Georgina Stanley reports

"Lawyers are good at words, not numbers, so bringing in external people will have a transformative impact," predicts former Dragons' Den star, and chief executive of buyout house Hamilton Bradshaw, James Caan of his investment in Midlands practice Knights Solicitors.

The deal, announced in June after months of research by Hamilton Bradshaw, will see Caan sitting on the board of Knights with the expectation that his name, combined with the investment, will catapult Knights into the top 100 UK law firms by revenue within three to five years.

"Five years would be a conservative expectation of how long it will take to put Knights into the top 100," says Caan. "Its turnover is roughly £9m now and I'd expect that to rise to between £20m and £25m in five years.

"My name and the additional investment will add a different dimension to the business, making it easier to attract talent into the business and add on new sectors. It's a huge opportunity."

The planned growth will see the three-office commercial firm, formed in 1759 and headquartered in Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, bolting on smaller firms and teams of individuals under the Knights banner, with Caan planning to capitalise on the brand by launching sector-specific subdivisions such as, for example, Knights Real Estate.

Knights will also be aiming to follow up on its involvement with Hogan Lovells' Mexican Wave venture, which has seen Knights working with the transatlantic firm, providing its clients with real estate advice at regional prices. This could mean linking up with other London law firms to offer their clients cheaper advice, as well as potentially targeting clients directly.

caan-james-2Caan states: "It's about learning how to deliver work in each sector profitably: looking at pricing and structuring work differently depending on the sector, while developing a brand and a presence, with a cost base that remains outside London."

The deal – still awaiting approval from the Solicitors Regulation Authority as strategic plans are being finalised – has been billed as the first direct injection of external capital into a commercial law firm.

Hamilton Bradshaw joins only a handful of companies to put money into law firms since the market opened up through the Legal Services Act. In contrast to previous deals, such as Duke Street's investment into personal injury specialist Parabis Group, it is the first to put money into a full-service commercial law firm.

And, of course, it marks a significant departure for Caan, who made his name in the recruitment space, a sector in which Hamilton Bradshaw has invested heavily.

While Caan maintains the parallels between law and recruitment are significant – stressing that both are people businesses and therefore share similar structural issues and cost bases – there is no denying the gap between the two sectors, so what prompted the interest?

Caan responds: "I've never felt so motivated. I passionately believe that the deregulation of the industry offers huge opportunities. With 11,000 law firms in the UK, it really is a cottage industry. So an opportunity like this – where legislation is enabling private investment into the industry for the first time – will result in dramatic change and, as a private equity firm, it could present an attractive return. There is huge opportunity for consolidation."

According to the entrepreneur, the impact on the legal sector of outside investment is clear: strong management under the leadership of a highly-paid chief executive will make growth easier to achieve than in a traditional partnership, where decision-making is constrained by the need for consensus.

The difficulty is most firms are not ready for the changes outside capital requires. This made it hard to find the right firm to invest in. Knights – under the leadership of managing partner David Beech, who joined the firm in October 2011 having previously held the same role at Heatons, before subsequently joining private equity house Arev – was an exception.

Caan says: "What we liked was that David had already worked with private equity, and that the firm had already shown the lateral thought to bring in external management. With other firms, although the motivation is there, the awareness is not. It involves radical changes: to remuneration, corporate structure, pricing, mindset – everything changes."

But once firms have made that shift – in particular, when it comes to paying out profits to partners – the benefits will be significant.

"The ramification of external investment is much, much wider than just attracting capital. What is more interesting is the impact outside investment will have on the business. The current model of a law firm doesn't work from an investment perspective because they pay out all their profits every year to partners. Firms looking to raise external funding need to change that model."

And Knights offers Caan the chance to prove it can be done and to show that it can be successful both for Knights and Hamilton Bradshaw, which will be looking for an exit in about five years – probably to another buyout house.

Caan comments: "If we can demonstrate that we can grow and create a business with a much more conventional structure, then a larger private equity player may be interested in buying us. The market needs to see a demonstrable example that it can be done."

Caan believes interest from private equity will grow as the return on investment becomes apparent. "The legal sector needs deals like this. It has been stuck in its ways for 100 years so, hopefully, once people understand how to manage it, it'll happen more.

"Bringing in an external investor instantly allows you to bring in and use people with different skills and experience and that can only be a good thing."