London’s Gordon Dadds is set to become the UK’s newest listed law firm following a share offer by Work Group.

The offer, which constitutes a reverse takeover, values Gordon Dadds at £18.75m. Work Group also intends to raise up to £20m via a placing, with the proceeds used to repay borrowings (which currently stand at around £3.5m), fund acquisitions and provide working capital. Gordon Dadds is expected to list on AIM in August.

Gordon Dadds has carved out a reputation as one of the UK’s most acquisitive law firms in recent years. As last year’s UK 200 report highlighted, the firm’s growth has been underpinned by a string of acquisitions including that of Jeffrey Green Russell following a pre-pack administration in October 2015 as well as those of Davenport Lyons and litigation and corporate firm Harris Cartier.

The firm has also branched out into other advisory services. In June 2016 Gordon Dadds launched GD Financial Markets, a management consultancy providing a range of services such as advisory, business consulting, solution integration and managed services to capital markets clients.

In 2015/16 Gordon Dadds, which brands itself as a legal and professional services firm, posted a revenue of £20.2m and an average revenue per lawyer of £238,000. Gordon Dadds’s turnover for 2016/17 stood at £23.16m, with a net profit of £2.2m and average profit per equity partner of £748,000. Top of equity was £1.7m.