Kennedys is in advanced talks to buy Plexus, RollOnFriday understands, although the firms have poured cold water on the rumour. 

A source has told RollOnFriday that Plexus, the one-time Golden Turd which was flushed into administration and then resurrected, was "being bought" by Kennedys. While not confirmed by either firm, it would make sense. In the UK the two have sparred in the same claims markets for years, taking each other's places on panels, poaching each other's staff, backing their cars into each other with sabotaged indicators, etc. There have also been signs that Plexus may be ready and willing and actually pretty bloody desperate for a takeover, including seeking this summer to quietly lease its London office.

Here they come to save the daaay* *NB may make some redundancies as a result of synergies.

Regional firm Plexus, which specialises in insurance defendant claims, won the Golden Turd in 2014 when its staff voted themselves the least satisfied in the UK. There was worse to come. Mass redundancies followed in 2015,  then Plexus sought a takeover by Keoghs which fell apart when Keoghs walked away from talks, and then, that November, the larger Parabis group collapsed. It was split up via pre-pack administration deals and sold off in a firesale, which Plexus survived after being taken over by some of Parabis' founding members.

With over 1700 staff and offices around the world (where its partners are, sometimes, sued for defamation) Kennedys is by far the larger firm. It also has a record of plundering Plexus for resources, in recent years tempting a 13-lawyer team to defect. If Kennedys latest move is indeed taking it over wholesale, hopefully the talks will be more productive than they were for Keoghs. And don't presage another collapse for Plexus. 

Although it may have gone that way already. A spokesman for Plexus said the firm was not in discussions with Kennedys, whose spokesman said that while it was approached by firms "regularly", it was not buying Plexus.