A private equity investor has sold its stake in Stowe Family Law after overseeing a five-year period of rapid growth in the specialist firm. Bahrain-based private equity giant Investcorp today announced the acquisition of Stowe Family Law from Livingbridge for an undisclosed sum.
Livingbridge's acquisition of Stowe in 2017 began a period of unprecedented growth for a specialist family practice: staff numbers have risen from 44 to almost 400, while the number of offices has increased from a dozen to 90.
Stowe reported that turnover for the year ending April 2024 was more than £37m – up from £25m the year before and £10m in 2017/18. Profit before tax more than doubled year-on-year in 2022/23 to £2.7m.
New owner Investcorp is best known for investments in luxury groups including Gucci and Tiffany. Founded in 1982, the business was set up by Iraq-born financier Nemir Kirdar to channel oil money into developed markets. In 2022 Investcorp, which now manages $52bn of assets, made an unsuccessful attempt to buy Italian football club AC Milan.
The investment in Stowe will support a new five-year strategy with a target of serving more than 10,000 clients by 2029, the firm said.
Ken Fowlie, executive chairman at Stowe Family Law, said: ‘With their support and collaboration, we will continue to invest in our business and people to achieve our mission to become the first choice for family law. Given Investcorp’s experience, we will accelerate investment in technology, including looking to unlock the power of artificial intelligence to further enhance customer experience and service quality.’
Investcorp boasts of having a long history of investing in technology-enabled professional services businesses. Gilbert Kamieniecky, head of private equity, Europe, said: ‘We are pleased to be starting this new partnership with Ken and the Stowe Family Law team, as they continue on their growth trajectory of building the number one brand in family law in the UK. We were impressed by the company’s commitment to build a resilient and scalable business powered by technology.’
Stowe was founded in Leeds in 1982 by solicitor Marilyn Stowe, who relinquished control of the business on retirement in 2017.
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