Ince & Co Superyacht Law Firm Acquired by Gordon Dadds

The £27.3m acquisition of the UK assets of Ince & Co LLP law firm by AIM-listed Gordon Dadds LLP has been completed, leading to the creation of Ince Gordon Dadds, the UK's largest listed law firm. Ince & Co is one of the largest global maritime firms with international offices in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Its takeover by Gordon Dadds, an ambitious full-service law firm with offices in London and Cardiff, will greatly expand capacity to deliver high-quality services to clients worldwide.

Ince & Co is famous in superyacht circles for its biannual superyacht seminars; its renowned maritime practice ranked 2nd in the top three maritime law firms on 'The Times Best Law Firms 2019' list. 

Over coming months, deals will be negotiated over the international offices of Ince & Co, apart from those in China (Beijing and Shanghai) which were incorporated into the deal from the beginning. If negotiations proceed as expected, the Ince & Co offices in Germany, Greece, Singapore, the UAE and Hong Kong will join Ince Gordon Dadds.

L-R: Peter Rogan, Ince & Co and Adrian Biles, Gordon Dadds (credit: Gordon Dadds)

The French and Monaco offices have been left out of the deal and Andrew Charlier has therefore stepped down as head of Superyacht at Ince & Co. Duncan Bateson, partner and maritime lawyer with 25 years experience, succeeds him.

The future of Ince France remains uncertain, as information about its offices in Paris, Marseille and Le Havre as well as Monaco has been removed from the Ince Gordon Dadds website. It is unknown whether Ince France will continue to operate under the Ince branding, but it is understood that superyacht legal work will remain an inherent part of its business.

Commenting on the deal, Adrian Biles, CEO at Gordon Dadds, said, “We are very pleased to have completed the Ince deal, it is a landmark in our development and I’m delighted to welcome our new colleagues. We will foster the close working relationship under the Ince Gordon Dadds International Network, ensuring that the large business and the affiliate network will offer our clients breadth of service both by practice area and by geography.

“The deal is underpinned by the strong performance of Gordon Dadds, with first half revenues up by over a half and adjusted profit (before tax) up by over 90%.”