Morae Global Corporation will announce today (1 November) that it has acquired UK-based technology and managed legal services provider Exigent Group, doubling its headcount and bringing its client-base to over 1,000 globally.
The transaction, which closed on 26 October, will see all of Exigent’s employees join Morae, bar co-founder and executive chairman David Holmes, for whom this sale is an exit. Co-founder and CEO Nicola Stott joins Morae as senior managing director.
Speaking to Legal IT Insider about the acquisition, Shahzad Bashir, chairman and CEO of Morae, said: “There are several reasons for the acquisition, and point one and two go hand in hand. Point one is that at Morae we believe there’s a huge market and transformational need for managed solutions, that’s the number one driver. A close second is that the technology which Exigent has, and the combination of their managed legal services and technology competency is a compelling business case for us. If you add their South African centre, it’s a huge attraction. That’s not to say that their centre in Bangalore isn’t. But in South Africa they have built a robust and powerful delivery centre and its time zone alignment with Europe is hugely positive for us.”
Since being founded in 2003 Exigent has developed its own proprietary technology in the contract management and discovery space and Bashir said: “The three major components are contracts, discovery, and AI, which they are building on to serve law firms and law departments.”
He added: “Our vision was and is to be the leading technology-enabled solutions provider to law firms and law departments. The emphasis is on solutions. People tend to box us in as an ALSP but many of us believe the ‘A’ is no longer necessary and the ‘S’ is not services, it’s solutions. Morae already has a very strong managed solutions business and we are bringing the two companies together as one as part of our broader OneMorae initiative.”
Bashir declined to discuss the transaction value but he said: “In terms of personnel, this doubles the size of the company’s headcount and adds several offices for us. They have people in Cape Town, Bangalore, London, the US and Sydney. In terms of revenue, it doesn’t double revenue because we were much bigger, but what I can say is that the combined entity today is much bigger than our competitors in a similar space that have been around for decades.”
Bashir said that while size is important, it is not the driver, commenting: “What is a driver is that combining our capabilities and solutions with theirs makes sense for clients. We firmly believe that our clients are looking for new solutions and models to help them with their business problems. Managed solutions providers have hitherto been people based, but with us it’s people, process and technology. And that’s the transformational change we’re bringing about with this acquisition.”
The combined business’s revenue breaks down as 45% in North America, 45% in EMEA, and 10% in APAC, across 10 sites.
Barclays served as financial advisor to Morae, with Haynes and Boone serving as Morae’s lead counsel.
caroline@legaltechnology.com