Platform + Add-On Roll-Up Approach
We target established, cash-generative firms with decades of operating history — real platforms with $10M+ EBITDA, deep client relationships, and proven recurring cash flows. These practices are acquired at multiples that reflect market fragmentation and a historical lack of institutional investment capital.
Anchor Investment
- Revenue: ~$70M
- EBITDA: ~$12.6M (18% margin)
- Entry multiple: 7.0x EBITDA = $88.2M EV
- Multi-practice, 50+ attorneys, Tier 1/2 states
- Existing management team retained
- Serves as integration hub & shared services center
Bolt-On Growth
- Revenue: $12 - $25M
- Avg. EBITDA: $2.5 - $5.5M (19 - 22% margins)
- Entry multiple: 3.5x - 7.0x
- 9 add-ons over Years 1 - 3
- All add-ons in the platform's legal sub-sector
- Geographic expansion across Tier 1/2 states
Best-in-Class Technology Stack
- Deploy AI-powered document drafting, legal research, and case analysis across all portfolio firms from day one
- Centralize practice management, billing, and client intake on a unified cloud platform
- Implement predictive case valuation and triage models to optimize case selection and settlement timing
- AI-driven marketing and lead generation to reduce client acquisition costs by 30-50%
- Automate back-office operations (HR, accounting, compliance) via MSO shared services
- Target 8-12% EBITDA margin expansion through combined technology and operational improvements
Sources & Uses — Platform Acquisition
Alignment by Design
We target legal practices where client relationships are institutional — built into the firm's brand, referral networks, and operational systems rather than dependent on any single attorney. In the firms we acquire, the owner-partners are typically spending the majority of their time running the business rather than trying cases, meaning there is limited direct revenue risk tied to any individual seller.
That said, lawyer buy-in across the firm matters. Attorneys who feel sidelined or uncertain about their future after an acquisition become a retention risk — and retention risk, in a people business, is revenue risk. Our rollover equity structure is designed to solve this from day one: giving both selling owners and the lawyers who stay a genuine stake in the outcome.
Rolling Into the Platform
- Selling owners roll 15–30% of proceeds into equity in the combined platform entity — not just their legacy firm
- Day-one diversification: rollover equity represents a claim on the entire portfolio of firms, every geography, every practice area
- Meaningful upgrade in risk profile for founders whose net worth was 100% concentrated in a single practice
- Founders from largest acquisitions sit on a platform-level advisory board, contributing operating insight and industry relationships
- Rollover is pari passu with LP capital — same class, same waterfall, same exit
Unlocking Equity for Attorneys
- In most law firms, junior partners hold equity that is illiquid, hard to value, and nearly impossible to monetize
- Many senior associates have no ownership path at all under the prior partnership structure
- Upon acquisition, minority lawyer-partners receive equity grants in the platform — often their first real ownership stake
- Grants vest over 3–4 years, creating a retention mechanism that keeps revenue-generating attorneys fully invested
- Equity in a PE-backed platform with a defined exit timeline replaces illiquid partnership shares
- 100% of net worth in one practice
- No liquidity without selling the whole firm
- Minority partners locked out of real equity
- Exit at 4–6× standalone EBITDA
- Single-geography, single-practice risk
- Equity spread across multi-firm portfolio
- Defined exit timeline alongside LP capital
- Minority attorneys receive platform equity grants
- Exit at 8–10× platform EBITDA
- Multi-geography, multi-practice diversification
The Second Bite of the Apple
The most compelling feature of rollover equity is what happens at exit. Individual law firms — even profitable ones — trade at 4–6× EBITDA. But a scaled, diversified legal services platform with $200M+ in revenue, centralized operations, and proven organic growth commands a materially higher multiple.
Sellers who roll over participate in that multiple expansion. A founding partner who sold at 5× on the way in may see the combined platform exit at 8–10×. That second bite — the spread between entry and exit multiples applied to a much larger earnings base — is where the real wealth creation happens.
It's the same value our LPs are capturing, and rollover holders ride alongside them dollar-for-dollar.
Recent Legal Services M&A (2021 - 2026)
| Acquirer / Target | Buyer | Year | Revenue | EBITDA | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dudley DeBosier (PI) | Uplift / Orion Legal MSO | 2026 | N/D | N/D | US: First major PI MSO deal. Kirkland & Ellis, Houlihan Lokey advised. |
| Certum Legal Solutions | Certum Group | 2025 | N/D | N/D | US: Lit funder acquired MSO for mass tort / PI pre-litigation support. |
| McDermott Will & Emery | Exploring PE stake | 2025 | ~$1.3B | N/D | US: Am Law 50 firm publicly considering selling PE stake via MSO. |
| Burford Capital → MSO | Burford Capital | 2025 | N/D | N/D | US: Major lit funder exploring MSO investments in US law firms. |
| Cohen & Gresser | PE (undisclosed) | 2025 | ~$150M | N/D | US: Am Law 200 firm in advanced PE discussions using MSO structure. |
| Fletchers Group | Sun Capital | 2021 | £34M → £77M | £8M → £38M | PI specialist. 10 add-ons in 4 yrs. 4.75x EBITDA growth. Continuation fund in 2025. |
| Stowe Family Law | Livingbridge → Investcorp | 2017 / 2024 | £9M → £37M | ~£3M | Family law. 4x rev growth. Sold to Investcorp (2024). 90 offices, 400 staff. |
| Nelsons Solicitors | Lawfront (Blixt Group) | 2023 | ~£15M | N/D | East Midlands firm. PE-backed Lawfront building regional platform. |
| Slater Heelis | Lawfront (Blixt Group) | 2024 | ~£10M | N/D | Manchester firm. Second acquisition for Lawfront's regional roll-up. |
| FBC Manby Bowdler | August Equity (Higgs) | 2024 | ~£12M | N/D | Midlands firm. Higgs now PE-backed and acquiring (added Vialex in 2025). |
| Rayden Solicitors | Fletchers (Sun Capital) | 2025 | £11.4M | £1.4M | Family law. Fletchers' first move outside PI. 10th add-on acquisition. |
| Shoosmiths PI Practice | Fletchers (Sun Capital) | 2025 | ~£15M | N/D | 80-strong serious injury team carved out from national firm. Price: £12M. |
| Beyond Law Group | Waterland PE | 2024 | N/D | N/D | Waterland PE investment in UK legal platform. Building multi-practice group. |
Entry Multiples vs. Comparable Professional Services
Key Milestones from Now Until Platform Close
Kickoff Proprietary Deal Sourcing
Activate proprietary database of 5,000+ firms. Begin direct outreach to partners 55+ in target segments. Engage intermediary network and bar association channels.
Equity Fundraise Complete
Close on $100M target ($120M hard cap). Secure commitments from institutional LPs, family offices, and strategic co-investors. GP commits $3M.
Debt Facility Secured
Finalize senior term loan and mezzanine facility. Target 3.0x total leverage at platform close. Pre-negotiated terms with 2-3 lenders for flexibility.
Operating Partner / Board Member Recruited
Hire former Am Law 100 COO/CFO with 20+ years legal operations experience. Critical for integration playbook development and regulatory architecture.
Platform CEO / COO Recruited
Recruit experienced operator to lead day-to-day platform management. Target profile: healthcare MSO or professional services executive with proven roll-up track record.
Case Study — Prime Providers
Prime Providers
Disciplined Buy-and-Build
- Completed 10+ acquisitions at avg. <6x EBITDA
- Fragmented market of small providers enables disciplined pricing
- Integrated all acquisitions under unified systems and management
Expanding the Footprint
- Expanded from 1 to 15+ locations across California
- Grew preferred payor partnerships, added new service lines, expanded geographies
- Recruited best-in-class management team to drive revenue in acquired businesses
Centralized Infrastructure
- Implemented electronic charting, ADP payroll, and Sage ERP across all entities
- Centralized billing/RCM drove record collection months
- Opened offshore back office at 33% of US cost, driving margin expansion
Exceptional Returns
- Revenue grew from $5M to $250M+ (50x) in 7 years
- EBITDA scaled from $1M to $55M+ through combined strategy
- Expected >5x return on invested capital; comparable platforms trade at 10-12x EBITDA