Gateley has sealed the takeover of HR consultancy Kiddy & Partners in the firm's fourth acquisition since its landmark initial public offering (IPO) in 2015.

The London-based consultancy firm will become a subsidiary of Gateley, with all 12 of Kiddy's employees moving over to Gateley's City office.

Gateley is paying approximately £850,000 to acquire the business, consisting of 50% in cash and 50% by the issuance of 251,207 ordinary shares of 10p each in the firm.

Gateley CEO Michael Ward said: "Kiddy represents our first acquisition in the human capital sector, which when put alongside global mobility and our pension trustee operation, moves our business forward, offering employers a range of legal and consultancy services as their businesses require.

"This acquisition is in line with our stated plan and follows similar progress made in our real estate group where high-value, niche, Chartered surveying services now sit alongside and complement our core legal offering."

Kiddy, which took in revenues of £2.4m during 2017, will continue to trade under its own name after the acquisition. Twenty of Kiddy's clients are members of the global FTSE 100.

The deal comes after Gateley acquired six-partner Guildford property firm GCL Solicitors in May, adding a further 79 employees to take its total number of staff to 882 across nine UK offices and Dubai.

Since becoming the first UK law firm to float on AIM in June 2015, Gateley has also acquired tax advisory business Capitus and property consultancy Hamer.

In the wake of Gateley's float, the option to go public has only been taken up by a handful of smaller firms such as London's Rosenblatt and regional player Knights. However, UK top 30 firm DWF recently confirmed that it is weighing up a listing, with Fieldfisher also on record as "watching with interest".