Legal services group Orwins invests in Clarkslegal, targets £50M revenue
What's the deal? Orwins, a newly rebranded UK legal services group backed by private equity firm Aliter Capital, has made a significant investment in Reading-based commercial law firm Clarkslegal. The deal, announced on May 28, brings Orwins to 150 staff across three hubs — London, Manchester, and Reading — with combined revenues of £23M.
Orwins was formed from the merger of BBS Law in Manchester and London and Carter Bond in London. Clarkslegal is a full-service commercial firm with a 40-strong team led by nine partners, specialising in employment, corporate, commercial property, and commercial litigation.
The firm aims to at least double in size over the next two years, targeting revenues of over £50M.
Why now? Aliter Capital first invested in BBS Law in October 2024, then Carter Bond in August 2025. The Clarkslegal deal and rebrand to Orwins mark the next phase of a deliberate roll-up strategy to build a national law firm serving ambitious businesses and high-net-worth individuals.
"From the outset, there was clear cultural alignment between our two firms," said Dov Black, chief executive of Orwins. "Clarkslegal has an entrepreneurial, client-focused ethos very similar to our own and a complementary client base."
What could go wrong? Integrating multiple law firms under a single brand is notoriously tricky. Cultural alignment is easy to claim at announcement stage; retaining partners and clients through the transition is the harder part. Doubling revenue in two years is an aggressive target that likely requires further acquisitions — each carrying its own integration risk.
The signal: Private equity-backed consolidation of mid-market UK law firms continues to accelerate. Firms like Aliter Capital see fragmented professional services as ripe for roll-up plays, combining regional practices into national platforms with broader service offerings and economies of scale. Orwins is the latest example of a trend reshaping how legal services are delivered — and owned — in the UK.
Read more: dailybusinessnow.com
