Fast-growing new legal entrant Quindell has announced a deal worth more than £60m to buy a leading claims management company and a law firm.

AIM-listed Quindell Portfolio, which has already bought two law firms this year, today confirmed an agreement with Abstract Legal Holdings, the parent company of Accident Advice Helpline.

It will also buy personal injury firm The Compensation Lawyers, previously one of the panel lawyers to ALH, for £30,000 in cash and 2.2m Quindell shares, valued at £385,000, locked in for 12 to 36 months.

The deal to acquire ALH is worth an immediate £14.97m in cash and more than 28.5m new shares. In order to fund the deal Quindell today raised £17m on the market by placing around 97m ordinary shares at a price of 17.5p.

The full acquisition will be satisfied with the issue on completion of 267.8m Quindell shares, which will be locked in for 12 to 36 months.

Established in 2000, Accident Advice Helpline claims to have adapted its no-win, no-fee model to survive the legislative changes due to come into effect in April 2013.

The claims management company recorded revenue of around £30m for the year ending 31 May 2012, with profits of £5.1m and net assets of £4.7m.

Rob Terry, chairman and group chief executive of Quindell, said: ‘The addition of a proven, trusted, direct consumer channel to our business model allows us to manage claims from the full range of sources through a managed, ethical supply chain, driving down the cost of claims for the industry.

‘I am confident that having such a high-profile and respected brand within the Quindell stable will support our broader extension into consumer advice services, and our partnership to date has been greeted with enthusiasm by the insurance brands that we partner with.’

The deal to buy ALH will be completed on or after 2 April 2013, subject to approval from the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Financial Services Authority.

Quindell began the year by buying personal injury firm Silverbeck Rymer in a deal worth £19.3m. It then bought PI firm Pinto Potts for £3m in October and also owns Intelligent Claims Management, a virtual network of claims management companies. Quindell’s share price rose 0.71% to 17.62p this morning upon news of the acquisition.

Commenting on the announcement, John O’Brien from analyst TechMarketView said: ‘A frenetic flurry of announcements from Quindell Portfolio show how many plates the buy-and-build insurance BPS [business process services] provider is spinning as it gears up for legislative changes in 2013.

‘It’s hard not to be a little alarmed by the rate of activity here, or indeed the projected numbers Quindell is prepared to put out there. It needs to be careful not to over-egg the pudding.’