Offshore professional services firm Mourant is set to add a base in Luxembourg through the acquisition of well-regarded local independent LexField and its affiliated governance services business, FideField.

Mourant said the move was aligned with its multi-disciplinary growth strategy and would enable it to provide clients with legal, corporate and entity management services from Luxembourg, one of the world's leading international finance centres and the second largest global funds centre. 

"We've spent several years getting to know the leadership team at LexField and FideField,” said Mourant global managing partner, Jonathan Rigby. “There's a close strategic and cultural alignment between our businesses and we're delighted to be joining forces in Luxembourg. The LexField and FideField teams have a reputation for delivering the highest levels of service in law, corporate services and entity management."

LexField is a boutique corporate and tax practice specialising in private equity, investment funds, M&A and private wealth. Led by partners Pierre-Yves Magerotte and Aldric Grosjean, since its launch in 2009 the firm has developed a strong reputation among financial sponsors and international law firm referrers for its capabilities in the Luxembourg corporate structuring aspects of cross-border sponsor-led M&A. 

All of LexField’s 13-strong team, which includes eight counsel and associates along with Magerotte and Grosjean, will move over to Mourant. 

Meantime, FideField’s nine-strong team provides entity management services to corporate and financial services clients on matters including corporate and fund administration, accounting and tax and business & family advisory. 

“Luxembourg is a strategic European entry point for structuring worldwide investments,” Grosjean commented. “By combining our insight and knowledge of the Luxembourg market with Mourant's experience and coverage across various key international finance centres, we see a great opportunity to enhance our combined offering.”

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is scheduled to complete in Q1 next year.

Mourant’s acquisition of LexField follows the firm buying specialist accounting business Offshore Group in January – a move that saw it add 50 professionals – and hiring partner Mike Jones last year from the Jersey Financial Services Commission to launch its new consulting business. 

In February the firm also promoted seven lawyers to partner and now has north of 60 partners across its offices in London, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Jersey, Guernsey, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands (BVI). 

Also in February, HFW announced that it would be taking over the BVI office of Bahamas litigation firm Lennox Patton to establish an offshore presence, a rare move for an onshore law firm.