Gordon Dadds acquires Ince & Co in £27 million merger deal

Commercial firm Gordon Dadds has acquired fellow City practice Ince & Co in a deal worth £27 million, although the final agreement will see Ince’s affiliated overseas offices continue to operate under the Ince & Co brand.

The merged firm will trade under the name Ince Gordon Dadds. As Legal Futures and the Law Gazette report, some of Ince & Co’s overseas offices are branches of the London-based firm, while others are run by affiliated law firms. The merger will see Gordan Dadds acquire Ince’s offices in Shanghai and Beijing, and enter new relationships with offices in Hamburg, Cologne, Piraeus, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore, which are affiliates that will continue to use the Ince & Co name.

Meanwhile, Ince’s former French offices in Le Havre, Marseille, Monaco and Paris are not part of the deal and will not be involved with the newly merged firm, having been unable to agree terms with Gordon Dadds.

Adrian Biles, chief executive of Gordon Dadds, commented: “[This merger] increases our capacity hugely and we expect it to boost revenue significantly in the coming years. We will foster the close working relationships under the Ince Gordon Dadds International Network, ensuring that the enlarged business and the affiliate network will offer our clients breadth of service both by practice area and by geography.”