Legility, an IT consulting firm and operational specialist in the legal vertical, has acquired eDiscovery specialist Inventus. Financial terms were not disclosed.
This is M&A Deal Number 31 that ChannelE2E has covered in 2020. See the complete M&A deal list here.
Legility of Brentwood, Tennessee employs lawyers, engineers, consultants, technologists, data specialists and operational experts. The company, founded in 2000 as Counsel On Call, serves one-third of the Fortune 100 and one-quarter of the Am Law 200.
Inventus of Chicago, Illinous is an eDiscovery services provider with locations across Europe, Asia and North America.
Legility Acquires Inventus: Focus and M&A Experience
The combined company, known as Legility, now has more than 500 employees across 20 international offices, eight international data centers and a talent pool of more than 1,000 flexible legal talent staff, Legility says.
This is Legility's third M&A deal in roughly three years.The company in August 2019 acquired Dallas, Texas-based iControlESI, an eDiscovery technology solutions provider. And in 2017, the company acquired DSicovery.
The name Legility blends the words "legal" and "agility" to describe the company's focus and mission.
Legility Acquires Inventus: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement, Legility CEO Barry Dark (pictured above) said:
“This combination creates tremendous value for our customers through the broader set of services that we can offer together and the upgraded capabilities coming from the combined team. This transaction increases our global footprint and expands our capabilities in eDiscovery, as well as in non-litigation domains at the intersection of people, process and technology. Inventus is well-established in Asia, the UK and continental Europe as well as in complementary North American markets.
Although Legility is the acquiring company, we see the end result as a merger between two market leaders. We look forward to leveraging our combined platform to drive future innovation and revolutionize the legal operations industry.”
Added Paul Mankoo, CEO of Inventus:
“We admire what Legility has achieved in addressing the requirements of legal operations within corporate clients and look forward to the combined company’s breadth and depth of service and coverage driving continued growth,” Mankoo said. “The combination represents an enormous opportunity to enhance and expand the types of services we deliver to our clients. Paramount in building this scale of company is remaining relentlessly client-focused while pushing the boundaries of legal operations innovation to deliver outstanding technology, capabilities and service.”
Mankoo is a technology entrepreneur, investor and mentor who participates in TechStars, the popular accelerator for entrepreneurs and startup businesses. Mankoo is now a member of Legility executive team. The headquarters for the combined company will be in Nashville, with a significant office presence in Inventus’ former dual headquarters, London and Chicago.
eDiscovery Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A activity among legal IT services firms and eDiscovery companies have popped up from time time in recent years. Example deals include:
- 2019: HaystackID, backed by private equity, acquired eTERA Consulting, an eDiscovery and MSP with digital forensics expertise.
- 2016: Franklin Data acquired Scarab Consulting, gaining data hosting, eDiscovery & IT security expertise.
- 2016: Special Counsel acquired of D4 — which specializes in eDiscovery managed services, information governance, computer forensics and deposition solutions.
- 2016: Epiq Systems & DTI merged as part of a $1 billion deal to unite managed services, eDiscovery & legal process outsourcing (LPO) skills under one roof.
eDiscovery is short for electronic discovery, which is defined as the process of discovery in civil litigation that is carried out in electronic formats. It encompasses what most often is referred to as electronically stored information, or ESI, according to AIIM.
ESI examples include emails, instant messaging chats, documents, accounting databases, CAD/CAM files, Web sites, and any other electronic information that could be relevant evidence in a lawsuit. Also included in ediscovery are “raw data” and “metadata,” which forensic investigators can review for hidden evidence, AIIM adds.
