Melbourne-based personal injury law specialist Slater & Gordon will pay $1.23 billion for the Professional Services Division (PSD) of UK software and technology services company Quindell.

The Australian-listed firm will seek to raise $890 million in new equity to pay for the acquisition, with the remainder to be funded by bank debt.

It is Slater & Gordon’s biggest acquisition, and will make it the largest personal injury law firm in the UK, where it has operated since 2012.

Quindell is listed on the London Stock Exchange’s junior AIM bourse. It provides outsourcing services to the insurance and telecommunications sectors.

PSD includes a personal injury legal practice that claims 7% of the UK’s $4.84 billion personal injury claims market. It also provides claims management services to insurers, brokers and service providers in the motor vehicle and health markets.

Slater & Gordon MD Andrew Grech says the acquisition is a “transformational opportunity” that will take the firm to a clear leadership position in the “highly fragmented” UK personal injury market.

Slater & Gordon intends to “reorient” PSD’s business, to focus on fast-track road traffic accident, employers’ liability and public liability claims.

It has been in negotiations with Quindell since January. The acquisition is subject to a majority vote by Quindell shareholders on Friday and UK regulatory approval.