National firm Slater and Gordon has agreed a £33m borrowing facility with one of the world’s leading litigation funders.
The three-year funding from Harbour will be used to invest in developing the firm’s consumer legal services, particularly to finance a substantial book of clinical negligence and other personal injury claims, the firm said.
Slater and Gordon said earlier this year it was in talks about raising fresh capital. The company’s auditor Deloitte stated in its assessment of the business that ongoing discussions with lenders, as well as revenue issues, indicated that a ‘material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern’. VFS Legal, which had previously provided funding to Slater and Gordon, went into administration earlier this summer.
In January, the firm said it was in the process of agreeing with new terms with its current funder and with several new providers.
Those talks have culminated in the deal with Harbour, which started as a litigation funder but has moved into making strategic relationships with law firms over the past 18 months. This has involved the provision of lending and credit facilities to firms to support them in executing their growth plans.
Harbour states that funds can be used for multiple purposes, giving the leaders of multi-strategy law firms flexibility to invest in different workstreams or practice areas.
Nils Stoesser, chief executive of Slater and Gordon, said: ‘The ethos of the entire Slater and Gordon team is to support our clients by delivering an exceptional service across a whole range of consumer law issues. We have been looking for a financial partner to help us capitalise on the next stages of the firm’s growth, and we are we are delighted to have Harbour’s support and confidence in our future.”
Elizabeth Comley, chief operating officer of Slater and Gordon, said the facility agreed with Harbour gives the firm access to ‘stable capital over several years’.
She added: ‘We have big growth ambitions for our personal injury, clinical negligence, and other practice areas, where we know we have a competitive advantage. This new facility allows us to realise those ambitions, and in Harbour we’ve found a natural partner who really understand the needs and business of law firms.’
In the legal sector, Harbour has recently provided credit facilities to Bamboo Group and to Rothley Law.
