The acquisition of Keoghs enables Davies Group to foray into the UK insurance legal services sector
Keoghs to be acquired by Davies Group. (Credit: Pixabay/Pete Linforth)
British insurance firm Davies Group has agreed to acquire Keoghs, an insurance-focused law firm, for an undisclosed price.
The acquisition will help Davies Group to foray into the UK insurance legal services sector, while creating a major player in insurance and risk management.
Keoghs serves the UK insurance industry with dispute resolution and risk services for the motor, casualty, specialty, and complex classes. The company is said to handle more than £1bn worth of insurer claims, while resolving over 100,000 claims annually.
The insurance-focused law firm functions as a defendant-only model, and works in partnership with insurers, brokers, managing general agents (MGAs), corporates, and the public sector.
Through Keoghs, Davies Group will create a new legal solutions division
Its addition will create a new legal solutions unit within Davies Group. The business will be continued to be led by Keoghs’ chief executive John Whittle, who will report to Davies Group chief executive, Dan Saulter.
John Whittle said: “The Keoghs strategy has always been to place our business, our clients and our people at the heart of this change, driving forwards to create the preeminent law firm in the insurance legal sector.
“The opportunity to join forces with Davies was too good an opportunity to miss to deliver on this, and we are delighted to be a part of an organisation that has a single, shared and unified vision for the future.”
Following the acquisition of Keoghs, the British insurance firm’s global team will grow to more than 3,700 people working across operating centres located in the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, and Bermuda.
The combined business will cater to more than 500 insurance, highly-regulated and overseas clients, said Davies Group.
Dan Saulter said: “Keoghs and Davies were both founded in 1968 and have proudly served the insurance market and our clients for more than 50 years. Both firms have a big focus on values, culture and employee success.
“At Davies we place considerable value on disruptive thinking and new ideas. Keoghs has made investments in R&D and innovation in the past five years, not least in its core case management system and client-facing solutions, particularly ‘Lauri’, the legal-AI platform, and ‘ADA’, the fraud detection solution.”
Subject to customary regulatory approvals, the acquisition is likely to be wrapped up during the first quarter of this year.
In November 2019, Davies Group acquired Thornton Group, an Ireland-based multi-line claims adjusting and third party administration business, which specialises in property, casualty, marine and engineering, energy, and jewellery claims.