Mason, Hayes Curran turnover rises 14%

SOLICITORS MASON Hayes Curran, the only large Irish legal practice that publicly declares its revenues, has revealed that its turnover rose by 14 per cent last year to €32.4 million.

The firm had a turnover in excess of €20 million in 2003, the first year for which its figures were published.

Newly appointed managing partner Emer Gilvarry said the company remained confident of its growth prospects in the coming year despite the challenging economic environment.

"Our core strategy will continue to focus on aligning with growth areas of the economy through the development of new practice areas as well as through enhancing our existing activities," she said.

The firm said turnover at its corporate practice rose by 23 per cent last year. The company advised Origin Enterprises on its initial public offering, represented Kerry Group in its purchase of Breeo Foods and acted for Perlico in its sale to Vodafone.

Ms Gilvarry said deal flow volumes were tougher this year and the size of transactions smaller in light of the tougher funding environment. "Banks are slower to lend. Having said that, we see that trade buyers then can pick up some bargains as private equity is less active. We really don't see much change in that for the rest of the year," she said.

However, she suggested some listed companies might be vulnerable to being taken private and said there may be some forced sales in the future to "patient" trade buyers.

Turnover at the firm's litigation division grew by 17 per cent in 2007. Ms Gilvarry noted an increase in insolvency work in the current year.

The firm's fastest-growing area last year was in financial services, where turnover rose by 50 per cent. This division includes banking and asset finance, mainly in the areas of aviation finance and investment funds.

Ms Gilvarry said the company had seen a marked upturn in project finance work around infrastructure schemes and wind energy. "The funding environment is still good in that area. In 2007 the firm made strong progress building on the investments we have made . . . as well as expanding our range of service offerings and establishing new practice areas," she said.

"We have also successfully focused on growth areas of the Irish economy while exploiting international opportunities, particularly international enterprises setting up or doing business in Ireland."