Olswang buys up Kanter Jules in real estate push

Olswang is kicking off its new financial year with the acquisition of property boutique Kanter Jules.

In total, nine fee-earners will join Olswang this week, with four signing up as partners. The new arrivals are chiefly in real estate, but include corporate and litigation specialists.

The deal will add some £4.5m to Olswang's revenue. The firm also added £3.5m with the acquisition of Julian Holy Solicitors in June 2005.

Kanter Jules' best-known clients are Reit Asset Management and US firm Apollo Real Estate Advisors. The former, which manages a property portfolio worth around £2bn, uses Kanter Jules almost exclusively for its property work but uses other firms for corporate matters. Olswang will aim to leverage its property strength to feed work into other areas, including in particular corporate.

The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions that has seen Olswang transform itself from a technology, media and telecoms (TMT) boutique into a TMT player with a major property practice. In 2002 the firm acquired Garrett's Thames Valley office, followed a year later by the hire of the real estate and media practices of DJ Freeman.

Olswang chief executive Jonathan Goldstein said the recent growth in its real estate client base now made it "one of the top three property practices in London". The team now includes 17 partners with the Kanter Jules additions and, in the last financial year, completed deals worth a total of £4bn.