Target Law Firm Profile
Tiberius seek to partner with and invest in high-quality UK law firms that align with their long-term, partnership-led approach.
Culture and values sit at the centre of the Tiberius approach. Strong alignment between partners, leadership teams and employees is viewed as essential to building a successful and enduring professional services business.
Tiberius place particular emphasis on respect, integrity and shared professional standards, believing that differences of background and perspective are a strength where there is mutual understanding and alignment on core values. Cultural fit, both within firms and between partners, is therefore a key consideration in any investment.
The primary objectives of investment are to:
Support and enhance sustainable growth and profitability of the firm
Provide guidance, direct assistance and investment on which strategies and approach would best help grow the firm, whether this is organically or inorganically
Assist with developing a high performance culture in the firm in order to win higher margin work
Strengthen leadership, talent retention and succession planning creating fair and transparent metrics for partner compensation and encouraging a stronger entrepreneurial mindset
Ensure firm is balanced appropriately and fairly to encompass and reward entrepreneurial and technical skillsets in a fair and optimal way
Enhance operational efficiency and pricing discipline
Invest in systems, technology and business development to future-proof the platform
Invest in employing a COO, approved by the firm, to assist the firm in implementing the above
Target firms will typically have the following characteristics:
A highly regarded law firm with a strong reputations in core practice areas
A solid client base with evidence of repeat instructions
A partnership open to strategic investment and operational evolution to reach the next level
Healthy EBITDA margins or a clear pathway to achieving this through targeted improvements
A leadership team focused on long-term value creation rather than short-term exit. Whilst a partial exit for some older retiring partners is fine, enough capable partners who can retain the existing client base/relationships need to remain and be committed to and capable of delivering growth and executing on the agreed strategy
Deal Structure
Tiberius typically seeks a significant minority equity position, with a preferred ownership range of 30–50%, structured to provide effective influence on key strategic decision-making authority where required
Structures are flexible and tailored to the existing partnership, recognising that control in professional services is achieved through governance, incentives and alignment, not percentage ownership alone (and that consensus building is critical as nothing can be imposed on a partnership with disproportionate time and effort required to handle certain partners to help with consensus building)
Transactions may include partial liquidity for existing partners alongside rolled equity to allow participation in future value creation
Tiberius place strong emphasis on retaining and developing high-quality partners and employees
Equity participation, incentive and retention arrangements can be structured to align long-term motivations for partners and associates. A bonus pool to also allow every non fee-earning employee to participate in the firm’s success
Ownership and governance structures are designed to be fair, transparent and acceptable to the equity partnership, supporting long-term stability and succession