RBG Holdings plc (AIM: RBGP), the professional services group, today publishes a pre-close trading update ahead of the publication of its financial results for the six months ending 30 June 2021 on 15 September 2021.

The Board is pleased to announce that the Group continues to trade in line with market expectations. As a result, the Board intends to pay an interim dividend of 2 pence per share in respect of the six months to 30 June 2021 on 27 August 2021 to shareholders on the register as of 30 July 2021.

Legal Services Division

The Group’s legal services division, which includes Rosenblatt Limited (“RBL”) and Memery Crystal Limited (“Memery Crystal”), has performed well across all practice areas, particularly those areas focused on contentious law such as dispute resolution, and the Group’s corporate division which is focused on commercial transactions. The acquisition of the business of Memery Crystal LLP was completed on 28 May 2021.

The integration of Memery Crystal into the legal services division is progressing well. While RBL and Memery Crystal retain their own brand identities, the two firms are highly complementary and are in the process of being combined into one legal services business. Opportunities have been identified to leverage both firms’ skills, resources, and reputation to enhance the Group’s offering to its combined client base. Looking ahead, the Group plans to integrate all support functions, including technology platforms, and implement other changes to deliver further synergies while retaining the client facing brands of ‘Rosenblatt’ for contentious legal services and ‘Memery Crystal’ for non-contentious legal services. Further details on the integration plans will be provided with the Group’s interim results in September.

Litigation Finance

The Group has two types of litigation assets – RBG’s own client matters, and litigation matters run by third-party solicitors funded by LionFish Litigation Finance (UK) Limited (“LionFish”). Both offer opportunities for high potential returns.

The current litigation assets include three large cases, project named Neptune, Shango, and Mercury. Updates will be provided when appropriate. In the case of Project Neptune, the Court of Appeal recently found that because there was a 19-month delay in the judge providing a judgment, this judgment is not safe. Therefore, a full re-trial has been ordered with the date not yet set.

LionFish is actively invested in 10 cases with a total cash investment of £3.2 million across the cases and a total capital commitment of £8 million if all cases go to trial. In April, LionFish recorded its first successful litigation investment since its launch. While the return is not material to the Group’s forecast financial results, the successful investment provided a gross two times money return over and above invested cash. Moreover, the result confirmed that LionFish could deliver significant returns from its portfolio of assets.

Convex Capital Limited (“Convex Capital”)

Convex Capital is the Group’s specialist sell-side corporate finance boutique. After a challenging 2020, where deals were postponed or delayed due to Covid, the Convex Capital team worked to pivot its sector focus to rebuild its transaction pipeline.

As a result, since 1 January 2021, Convex Capital has completed eight deals generating revenue of £5.0 million. Furthermore, Convex Capital has a strong pipeline of 25 deals with several currently at various stages of completion.

Commenting Group CEO Nicola Foulston, said: “The Group has continued its strong performance in the first six months, after an excellent 2020. We have seen demand for all legal services continue as expected, including a significant increase in corporate and commercial transactions, such as IPOs and real estate deals, as we emerge from the pandemic. I am pleased with the progress in terms of integrating Memery Crystal into the Group. We are identifying many opportunities for both law firms to work together and enhance our client offering.

“We continue to build a portfolio of litigation investments comprising both RBG’s own matters and third-party matters through LionFish which offer the potential for high returns for our shareholders. Our M&A business, Convex Capital, has sustained its strong start to the year converting its pipeline. We are confident about the rest of the year as market conditions continue to improve.”