Shoosmiths advises Azets on latest acquisition

UK law firm Shoosmiths has advised national accountancy and business advisory group Azets on its acquisition of Baker Tilly Ireland, which will rebrand as Azets Ireland with immediate effect. 

Azets Ireland is one of the country’s fastest growing professional services firms, providing a range of services, including audit and advisory, corporate finance, tax, restructuring, corporate governance and fund management, with a focus on mid-market, entrepreneurial, owner-managed, and family-owned businesses. 

This latest acquisition marks Azets’ tenth deal in 12 months and its first acquisition in the Irish market, which represents a key milestone in Azets’ growth strategy. Azets Ireland’s focus will remain on supporting the needs of local and international SMEs, enabling them to take advantage of growth opportunities in the Irish market and beyond. The international footprint of Azets will also facilitate further growth for the firm in Ireland as the country becomes an increasingly strategic location for firms expanding in the EU and beyond to the US.

The Shoosmiths team was led by corporate partner Simon Procter, supported by James Foster and Amy-Jane Walton (corporate), Laura Board and Caroline Airey (tax) and Anastasia Fowle (IP). 

The acquisition marks the fifth transaction on which the Shoosmiths corporate team has advised Azets, as the accountancy firm continues to build its brand and footprint within the UK and throughout Europe. It follows on from the acquisitions of Poole based Inspire Accountants, the acquisition of specialist accountancy firm Garbutt & Elliott, and the acquisitions of Tait Walker and Roffe Swayne – one of the largest independent chartered accountants in the South East of England.

Simon Procter, corporate partner at Shoosmiths, said: “This latest transaction, marking Azets’ first move into the Irish market, reaffirms Shoosmiths’ reputation as the ‘go-to’ advisors for impactful M&A transactions. It was a pleasure to work alongside the Azets team once again, and we look forward to seeing their continued expansion and growth.”

Craig Pettit, deputy general counsel at Azets, said: “Shoosmiths played a pivotal role in delivering this transaction for Azets. The service and professionalism provided by Shoosmiths has been second-to-none and we look forward to working with them again in the future. We’re excited to welcome the Irish team into the Azets family as we continue our growth journey”. 

According to the recently released annual league tables reporting on 2022 activity, Shoosmiths is the most active law firm advising on corporate transactions across the UK (Experian, 2022). In the past year the firm has seen high quality instructions from larger corporates looking at strategic M&A to accelerate their growth plans and disposals of non-core subsidiaries to reinforce balance sheets.