Listed law firm Knights has acquired regional firm Spearing Waite, in the latest deal for the recently floated firm.

The acquisition is the latest in Knights' growth strategy, following its initial public offering (IPO) earlier this year.

Knights acquires Spearing Waite's equity membership interests from owners Thomas Bower, Martin Stockdale Smith, Karen Herbert and Jonathan Wheeler, who will jointly receive £5.25m in cash and 97,208 new shares in Knights, plus deferred consideration of £800,000 in cash paid in three instalments between 2019 and 2021.

By bolting on the Leicester firm, Knights will add an additional 59 fee earners and one office. Last financial year, Spearing Waite posted revenue of £7.1m and profits of £3.2m. Following its listing, Knights' revenue grew to £35m for 2017-18 – resulting in a combined topline of £42.1m.

Immediately following its flotation, Knights took on Manchester firm Turner Parkinson, handing it its seventh office, 45 fee earners and roughly £8.5m of revenue.

Knights CEO David Beech (pictured) told Legal Week that "anything outside of London is up for grabs" when it comes to firm acquisitions. The firm is wholly focused on UK growth, with no plans to expand internationally, and it wants to hire at least 200 additional fee earners and increase its office count to at least nine by 2020.

Knights is one of a raft of firms to have floated in recent years since Gateley's landmark listing in 2015. Other firms to have made the move include Keystone Law and Rosenblatt, while last month Ince & Co announced that it is in merger talks with Gordon Dadds. If the merger goes ahead, it would create the largest listed law firm to date.