DWF forms Latam and Africa growth prospects

DWF forms Latam and Africa growth prospects

After the acquisition of 40-partner law firm RCD in 2019 Associations with Portuguese law firm and Spanish loss adjusting business

The UK-listed law firm DWF has announced exclusive partnerships with a Portuguese law firm and a Loss Adjustment company in the world's two fastest-growing regions, Latin America and Africa.

DWF will be joining NGA's Lisbon and Porto offices in Lisbon and Porto, where NGA has offices, with 19 lawyers, including four partners. With the leadership of managing partner Luis Nobre Guedes, the firm serves clients throughout Portugal, as well as in the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Lusophone Africa and Brazil.

Sir Nigel Knowles, DWF's CEO, commented that DWF and NGA share "strong cultural and sectoral alignments."

Our Spanish team has already worked with NGA on a number of projects and our positive experiences indicate that working together in close collaboration will yield success," he said.

NGA has been searching for a global business to partner with for some time and this partnership came along at just the right time, according to Nobre Guedes.

Our association with DWF provides us with the best platform to grow our business, expand our presence beyond the Lusophone countries and facilitate the delivery of integrated legal and business services to our clients globally, including Spain, France and the United Kingdom.

RTS, meanwhile, runs a loss adjusting and claims management business based in Madrid with approximately 300 employees across 18 countries. The company has offices throughout Latin America, including Venezuela, Peru, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and the Dominican Republic.

As DWF's first association of its kind, the RTS department will join the department's Connected Services division. This addition will enhance the firm's claims management and adjusting services, as it will be accessible for the first time to Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American clients.

Knowles views the association with RTS as a "significant step forward" in Building DWF's global claims management and adjusting the platform as a single global platform.

He stated that "RTS will enable us to offer our existing and new clients for the first time adjusting services in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula."

Additionally, the latest deal follows DWF's acquisition of Rousaud Costas Duran (RCD) for €50.5 million (£42.5 million) at the end of 2019. The firm and DWF had previously formed an exclusive alliance earlier this year. In a statement at the time, DWF said the deal would give it more access to the Portuguese and Latin American markets and that it later boasted of growth of 33percent in international revenue to hit £92.5m during FY2020/21 due to the deal.