Just hours remain for Ince Group to file court papers that will play an important role in deciding the insolvent law firm’s fate.
It has until the end of Tuesday in London to apply for court permission to extend the notice period of its intention to appoint an administrator.
If it does not file the papers, or if the court does not give permission to extend the period, Ince will go into the UK insolvency process of administration or could be liquidated. The firm declined to comment on Tuesday.
“If they haven’t done something by Friday, it’s gone,” said one source with knowledge of the matter, who thinks it is “likely” that Ince will seek to extend.
Ince filed an initial application on 12 April, stating that it intends to hire Quantuma as administrator, which would aim to sell the group’s business to a third-party purchaser as soon as possible.
But no such appointment has happened during the initial 10-day notice period, during which creditors are prevented from commencing or continuing legal action against the company without permission from the court.
Companies can apply for a 10-day extension if a rescue deal looks imminent, but under English insolvency law, the extension must be in the interest of creditors and must be justified.
If no extension is granted, major creditors will be able to file winding-up petitions, which would see Ince go into compulsory liquidation.
Ince owes what is understood to be a significant amount in unpaid tax to HM Revenue & Customs. Anglo-South African bank Investec provided £17m ($21.2m) in loans to Ince in 2021, which are secured against certain Ince entities.
Potential buyers
There are buyers who are interested in acquiring Ince in a pre-pack administration deal, but this looks increasingly tricky with such little time remaining.
A pre-pack deal would write off all Ince’s outstanding debt and establish a successor company.
The firm’s assets have been valued at between £30m and £40m, a source told TradeWinds.
But with most of its high-flying lawyers having already left, there has been serious attrition in its legal talent.
The most likely potential buyer is thought to be corporate investor Beckington, which is the law firm’s largest shareholder with a 9.9.% stake in its issued share capital.
Beckington is part of Knox D’Arcy Investment and is owned by UK businessman Richard Steele, whom TradeWinds has contacted for comment.
Beckington has participated in rescue packages for Ince previously and last year subscribed for large tranches of shares in Ince’s two equity raises on the London Stock Exchange in September and October.
Manchester law firm Horwich Farrelly is also said to be interested in acquiring Ince. However, sources have questioned whether it will be able to put financing in place for the deal with such little time remaining. TradeWinds has contacted Horwich Farrelly for comment.
Finally, are there clues that Ince’s former chief executive Adrian Biles is looking to step in again?
Filings made with the UK’s Companies House business register show that Biles set up four new entities that bear the Ince name, two days before the law firm announced its collapse.
Three days after registering the entities, Biles handed control and ownership of them to family member Jonathan Biles, who lives in Hong Kong.
The companies are Ince & Co UK Limited; Ince & Co Law Limited, Ince & Co London Limited and Ince & Co Legal Limited.
Adrian Biles, whose family was previously the largest shareholder in Ince Group, was fired in September from his position as CEO and managing partner of Ince Group over an alleged conflict of interest.
He is today managing partner at law firm Child & Child, which he acquired out of administration in November. TradeWinds has contacted him for comment.
Major shareholders in the Ince Group this month told TradeWinds they plan to take legal action against its officers for making what the shareholders claim were misleading representations about their investments.
Trading of Ince’s shares has been suspended by the London Stock Exchange since 3 January.
The group comprises Ince Consulting Holdings Limited; Ince Gordon Dadds Services Limited, members of Ince Gordon Dadds Holdings LLP and Ince Gordon Dadds LLP.
Ince, once shipping’s foremost law firm, collapsed on 12 April after an unidentified major creditor pulled support from the firm, which has blamed its financial problems on a long-overdue audit that it said has sapped its cash flows.
Several senior staff have left in recent months, including its head of shipping, Julian Clark.
Ince had struggled with defections and internal dissension since before its 2018 takeover by non-shipping London law firm Gordon Dadds, which had gone public the year before.
