Private equity investors are eschewing the top end of the legal market in favour of growing firms from the bottom up, new research has found.
Data from merger specialist consultancy Acquira Professional Services shows that private equity invested £250m in UK law firms in 2025, compared to £534m in 2024.
But while PE’s financial commitments have nominally reduced, the nature of the acquisitions is bringing significant change to the small to mid-sized market.
The volume of investors has increased. Fifteen private equity-backed legal transactions have been completed in 2026 so far, compared to 12 deals in both 2024 and 2025, and just four in 2021. The figures include bolt-on acquisitions completed by firms already operating under private equity-backed platforms.
Acquira says the UK market is edging towards structural reconfiguration, driven by capital and scale. Private equity has moved beyond high-volume sectors such as personal injury, conveyancing and full-service firms, into areas such as Court of Protection, health care, family law and employment.
That suggests the corporate market has largely been bypassed in favour of firms with repeatable revenue, scalable operational structures and flexible ownership models.
The long-expected breakthrough of private equity into top 100 UK corporate law firms has not materialised. Not one has accepted PE investment since DWF became the first in 2023.
Acquira said future growth is expected to come from continued expansion into specialist consumer and regional legal markets, as demonstrated by Investcorp-backed Stowe Family Law’s international expansion, and platforms such as Lawfront, which acquired South-East firm Brachers in 2025 and Thames Valley’s Field Seymour Parkes in April 2026.
Jeff Zindani, managing director at Acquira, said: ‘While overall investment values have reduced over the past year, the volume of transactions and the number of active private equity investors entering the market continue to grow. Investor focus is now broadening into specialist and scalable areas of legal services, bypassing the traditional corporate law practices.
‘That shift means firms, investors and advisers increasingly need access to intelligence that goes beyond headline deals and helps explain where capital is moving, which platforms are scaling, and how the structure of the legal market itself is evolving.’