Law firm asb law has been taken over in a deal worth £8.5million.

The Maidstone firm has been taken over by Knights Group Holdings plc, one of the UK's fastest growing legal and professional services businesses.

The group has also announced a placing of new shares to raise gross proceeds of £20m to fund the acquisition, and associated costs, and to provide the group with additional financial resources as it continues to build the leading legal and professional services business outside London, both organically and by acquisition.

Knights says the move allows it entry into the South East market in line with the group’s strategy to accelerate its organic growth through carefully targeted acquisitions.

The group saw bringing Knights’ expertise, scale and breadth of services to asb’s large corporate relationships is "expected to drive revenue growth in the business".

In turn, Knights expects to leverage asb's niche specialisms, for instance in aviation, across its wider geographical footprint.

Under the terms of the acquisition, Knights will acquire ASB from its existing equity partners on a debt free, cash free basis for a total consideration of up to £8.5m.

This comprises of £7.3m in cash which is payable on completion and the issue of 181,675 new ordinary shares in Knights to the sellers, along with deferred cash consideration of up to £400,000 to be paid in instalments on the first and second anniversary of completion, subject to certain conditions being met. Completion is expected to take place on April 17, 2020.

David Beech, CEO of Knights, said: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of asb, marking our entry into the important South East market with this quality full service commercial law firm which is recognised as Top 200 UK Law Firm by revenue.

“With its ambitious teams and progressive approach to law, asb has a strong cultural fit with Knights and provides an exciting platform for growth in the South East, in line with our strategy to build the leading legal and professional services business outside London.”

Andrew Clinton, managing partner of asb, added: "We chose Knights for its close cultural fit including its strong values and innovative and ambitious approach to challenging established norms within the legal sector.

"I’m very proud of how much we’ve achieved to date and believe that Knights’ scale and ability to invest in our team will enable us to realise our full potential and bring a broader range of services to our large corporate clients.”

Head to our business page for all of the latest news about businesses in Kent.