Law firm giant snaps up conveyancing broker popular with estate agents

One of the leading conveyancing broker platforms used by estate agents – Conveyancing Alliance (CAL) – has been bought by law firm giant O’Neill Patient (ONP) for £27.3  million from parent company ULS Technology. CAL is a broker platform that focuses specifically on the needs of brokers, volume estate agents and their clients, and offers conveyancing services from a panel of well-known law firms including ONP. Its most recent full accounts show it turnover £8.93 million, generating an operating profit of £2.4 million. It has 16 employees. ULS, which also operates the eConveyancer platform, says it has sold CAL because, although it is an “effective but simple conveyancing comparison site for individual mortgage brokers” it does not “support the Group’s vision”. The cash will be used to clear ULS’s debts and the remaining £25 million will be used to develop and launch a platform that will provide consumers with a new and seamless way to move home or remortgage and manage their existing home. CAL is the second purchase ONP has made in the past eight months, the first being of London-based Cavendish Legal Group in March. The company says it has ambitious expansion plans, with further acquisitions planned for…