Portobello Capital has acquired a majority stake in Legálitas, the largest tech-enabled, Spanish language legal services provider.
Together with Portobello, the current management team, led by Luis del Pozo, will also invest in the company.
Legálitas, which generated more than EUR50 million euros in revenues in 2020, has delivered a strong track record of growth reaching an annual increase of 20 per cent in the customer base and over 25 per cent compounded annual revenue growth for the core legal assistance segment, consolidating its unique business model in the current market environment.
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Madrid, Legálitas is the leading Spanish LegalTech player focused on providing legal advice for families, freelancers and SMEs, with more than 600 employees and 1,000 in-house and associated lawyers with expertise in all legal fields, including consumer, civil and labour law, among others.
The company provides legal intelligence services to more than 200,000 direct subscribers, handling more than one million legal consultations every year. Additionally, Legálitas is the partner of choice for many large corporations, banks and insurance companies to provide legal assistance services to their end customers.
Portobello investment strategy is to further consolidate Legálitas as the leading legaltech platform in Spanish language, while increasing commercial activity, fostering improvements in user experience and service quality, and expanding customised solutions for households and small businesses.
Growth in the digital legal services industry has been accelerated during the past year thanks to higher consumer demand of fast, online and on-demand legal advice, and thanks to the rising legal prevention needs of Spanish families and businesses. Legálitas is best positioned to capture this growth opportunity and leverage its current market leadership to provide multi-channel legal solutions to consumers.
The global asset manager Tikehau Capital is acting as financing provider and reference partner to Portobello in this transaction. Legálitas will have the financial flexibility to continue delivering growth and new technological developments.
Luis del Pozo, CEO of Legálitas, says: “Portobello investment in Legálitas represents a key milestone for the business and will help the business continue consolidating its position in the market and offering value-added legal services to its clients.”
Luis Peñarrocha, Founding Partner of Portobello Capital, says: “We are excited to back the Legálitas team in its next stage of growth. We have been impressed with the potential of the business and are excited to invest in one of the leading disruptors in the legal services industry.”
The transaction is subject to final approval by the Spanish Insurance Authority.
In this transaction, Legálitas has been exclusively advised by the Spanish investment bank Arcano and by the legal firm Uría. Portobello has been advised by Natixis Partners as financial advisor, Simon-Kucher as commercial advisor, KPMG as due diligence advisor and Jones Day as legal advisor.
