Gordon Dadds Share Discussion Threads

[battlebus2] 01/12/2017 23:37

Indeed anything’s possible.

[jonwig] 01/12/2017 19:21

Well, Capital Access Group published a note today with a share price target of 421p!



It's company-sponsored and seems a bit extreme even for a hopeful holder!

[elmfield] 01/12/2017 19:15

See someone else thinks so.

[elmfield] 28/11/2017 20:22

Well for what it’s worth I have one word,
Excellent.

[jonwig] 28/11/2017 10:33

Arden Partners, "buy". Summary:

No change to earnings forecasts following H118 results; we are
confident the inherent operational gearing will drive H218 returns
and this will be supported by an initial contribution from recently
acquired CW Energy LLP (CWE). Gordon Dadds is poised to be a
leading consolidator in the UK legal middle market; management’s
strategy is to double revenues to £50m and achieve a 15% net
profit margin over the next three years. The strong balance sheet
provides significant competitive advantage in completing
acquisitions in this space relative to its peer group. Delivery of this
strategy and application of the Group’s acquisition methodology
should drive successive earnings upgrades from the “base case”
forecasts and this was evident in the 33% FY19 earnings upgrade
following the CWE acquisition.

[battlebus2] 28/11/2017 07:53

Always happy to see the first results under our belts after IPO, lots to be happy with, it's going to be a long road scaling up the business but a good start imv. Dividend mentioned for Y/E March 18....

[jonwig] 28/11/2017 07:22

Half year results:



Harder to pick apart than usual after an IPO, and pattners' profit share makes comparisons difficult. Property division underperforming, it seems. However, they say they are trading in line with expectations which are for eps of 7.2p (March 2018) and 9.7p (2019).

[jonwig] 16/11/2017 13:56

Keystone Law is set to become the third UK firm to list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), following Gordon Dadds and Gateley.

The mid-market challenger firm plans to join the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) where the new trading entity will be known as Keystone Law Group plc. Corporate broker Panmure Gordon has been instructed by the firm to act as financial adviser during the process.

Shares will begin trading on 27 November and are expected to raise £15m in total, with the placing price of 160 pence per share which values the firm at £50m.

Keystone CEO James Knight said: “I am delighted to announce that we will be joining the AIM market. The entire team has worked hard to establish our position as one of the leading UK mid-market challenger law firms. Our decision to list on the London Stock Exchange will provide us with the most resilient and stable platform to support our ambitious growth plans long into the future.”

Keystone Law was one of the top revenue risers in this year’s UK 200, growing by 22 per cent to £26m during the 2017. The firm also showed one of the highest rises in revenue per partner, up 22 per cent to £4,267 despite a boost in fee-earner numbers.

The firm converted to an Alternative Business Structure (ABS) in October 2013 and received a £3.15m cash injection by private equity firm Root Capital the following year.

[jonwig] 01/11/2017 07:17

Acquisition of business and assets of CW Energy LLP:



From figures given, EV/EBITDA will be somewhere around 3.1x (higher cost if higher earnings). Website:



And also, "Since the flotation, we have received a number of approaches to make acquisitions and also for lateral hires. We have a good acquisition pipeline which will enhance earnings and the reach of the Group."

[battlebus2] 16/10/2017 22:12

Maybe some M&A soon.

[elmfield] 16/10/2017 21:44

Thank you!

[jonwig] 11/10/2017 18:59

Paid-for research note on GOR:

[battlebus2] 06/9/2017 22:57

Pretty reasonable valuation for now but when you factor in the upcoming acquisitions the share price should follow. Excellent management with a clear vision and enthusiasm to turn this into a 100 million market cap. All that's needed is time imv.

[dan_the_epic] 06/9/2017 22:38

Very late reply - good point jon. I'm very on the fence here; anyone got any convincing facts to tip the balance?

[dan_the_epic] 22/8/2017 21:45

I'll have a scan back in the morning

Reading these prospectuses are a real pain ;)

[jonwig] 22/8/2017 10:14

Dan - I've just checked the prospectus, and the bad debts you mention seem to have been acquired when a couple of practices were bought out of receivership. (Check p69 - is this the one?)

They don't seem to have incurred any impairments over the past three years.

[dan_the_epic] 22/8/2017 09:59

The main thing worrying me here is the valuation. Read the prospectus, but still looks like this is only making 1.5m on a theoretical post tax basis to adjusted earnings. Are those adjustments fair?

Then secondly, they seem to carry quite a high amount of debtors now written off as bad debt

[jonwig] 22/8/2017 09:07

Dan - GTLY has done well since IPO, so this intrigued me.

Watch out for law businesses to be disrupted over the coming years:

• Alternative fee arrangements. Microsoft and some other large companies are rejecting hourly billing in favour of bidding for a whole job.

• Portfolio financing of litigation. Loans or equity share of results are beginning to spread. (See Burford Capital, for instance: BUR.)

• AI to assist with legal discovery. Some firms have started up with this in mind.

• Consolidation of back office. This is where GOR's acquisition strategy is aimed.

• Online courts. this is where integrated IT systems will be an advantage.

[dan_the_epic] 22/8/2017 08:35

Agreed. Intriguing this one, just trying to gauge whether the IPO price is interesting enough

[jonwig] 22/8/2017 05:52

Dan - check out my post #10, though I'm not saying it's the last word. The current MCap contains unearning cash, and valuation on IPOs is always a messy business. EV/EBITDA is often used.

[dan_the_epic] 21/8/2017 20:31

Appears to make adjusted PBT of 2m, a loss after tax on normal terms, so PAT of 1.6m on an adjusted basis. Hardly looks cheap?

[panic investor] 09/8/2017 18:34

JW Woodford - run a mile time lol - he's had a nightmare recently