MURGITROYD, the patent and trademark attorney firm, has boosted its presence in the US by acquiring “certain trade and assets” from Dallas-based MDB Capital Group.

Glasgow-based Murgitroyd said the US$2.4 million (£1.8m) deal, which covers MDB subsidiary Patentvest, reflects its strategy to provide a full range of IP services to global companies and international law firms in its biggest market by geography.

MDB’s IP Software & Services Group generated gross revenues of about $860,000 in the 12 months, noted Murgitroyd, which expected the acquisition to be broadly revenue neutral in its first year. It signalled that it will fund the deal, which includes the value of tangible assets, IT systems and records, through a combination of a new term loan and existing group resources.

Eighteen staff based across the US and Nicaragua, where Patentvest is registered, have moved to Murgitroyd, which has offices in North Carolina. That number includes US patent attorneys Michael Chernoff and John Wootress, as well as 16 Managua-base patent engineers who are largely involved in US patent searching.

Murgitroyd unveiled the acquisition as it told the City it expects to report revenue of more than £42m in the year ended May 31, and pre-tax profits “broadly in line with market expectations”. It confirmed that group chairman and founder Ian Murgitroyd would move from his position as executive to non-executive chairman at the company’s annual meeting in October.

Shares in Murgitroyd closed down 27.5p at 515p.