Halliwell Landau consultancy arm opened with view to float

Halliwell Landau has set up a consultancy arm, which it is considering floating on the stock market "very quickly". The consultancy service will provide companies with advice on executive compensation schemes. The firm plans to cross-sell its services to clients of the law firm and the new consultancy business and does not anticipate that this will create any conflicts of interest.
The equity partners at Halliwells will own 85 per cent of the consultancy business between them. The proportion of the business each equity partner owns will be determined by the proportion of the law firm's profits that they are currently paid.
When asked if the consultancy arm was going to become a public company, Halliwells managing partner Paul Thomas said: "We're hoping to develop this very quickly. We could spin it out; there would be no problem with that."
When asked if the firm is expecting calls from investment bankers about floating the consultancy business in the near future, Thomas replied: "We certainly hope so."
A spokesperson from the Law Society confirmed that as long as a law firm is not intending to offer legal advice through its own consultancy, the firm can float the consultancy on the stock market.
The new business, which will trade as Halliwell Consulting, will be run out of London by former barrister Marcus Peaker. He has been hired from executive compensation consultancy Inbucon-Meis. Thomas will become chairman of the new business, and senior partner Alec Craig and London senior partner Clive Garston will become directors.