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Listed firm’s acquisition of Aus practice formalised
An award-nominated national practice has confirmed to the ASX the formalisation of its acquisition of a longstanding firm with offices across NSW and in the ACT.
Jerome Doraisamy
Earlier on Thursday, 29 April, the board of AF Legal Group (ASX: AFL), the holding company of Australian Family Lawyers, announced that it had signed the documentation pertaining to its sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Watts McCray Pty Ltd.
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Under the agreement, AFL – which was nominated for Law Firm of the Year at the 2020 Australian Law Awards – is acquiring 100 per cent of Watts McCray’s shares.
In its ASX statement, AFL said that it has “completed its due diligence and is working with Watts McCray to satisfy the remaining conditions set out in the SPA”.
“The parties are now targeting to complete the transaction no later than June 2021,” it said.
The proposed transaction, the company continued, is subject to a number of conditions precedent, including but not limited to there being no material adverse change in Watts McCray’s financial position, all of its loans being repaid in full, obtaining consent for change of control in lease agreements, and debt facilities being fully discharged or assigned.
AFL’s board confirmed that the transaction will be “materially earnings accretive” for the company, and that ASX will be advised once completion occurs.
The announcement follows Lawyers Weekly’s reporting in early March that AFL was set to acquire Watts McCray, which it said would make it the largest family law practice in Australia.
“As the first specialist family law firm in history to have a presence in every mainland capital city, the merger with Watts McCray strengthens our offering in Australia’s largest legal market in New South Wales,” AFL executive chairman Grant Dearlove said at the time.
“Combining our innovative client acquisition model and NewLaw practice with the pedigree, brand, and legal skill of Watts McCray will create a powerhouse firm in family law. Australians can look forward to a new era of service delivery in the complex family law space.”
Watts McCray has been operating for over 40 years in the family law space. It started with a Parramatta office and now has offices in Sydney’s CBD, Norwest, the Northern Beaches, the Central Coast and Canberra.
