Hi and welcome to the April Orange Rag, where the month has been dominated by big name strategic investment and M&A activity. In two of the biggest deals, Bain invested in iManage, and TPG acquired Thomson Reuters Elite (including all of its associated brands such as ProLaw, eBillingHub and MatterSphere).
The iManage investment from Bain is “substantial” but nonetheless still a minority share. If you think about the history of how iManage has got to where it is today, it is not surprising that it has gone out for investment. Founded in 1995, iManage conducted a management buyout from HP in 2015, backed by a few private investors and a bank sponsor (Lazard). The Chicago-headquartered company is profitable but hasn’t taken on formal external investment since its formation, and this cash injection means a return for its private backers, as well as iManage employees with options.
According to iManage co-founder and CEO Neil Araujo, the money was secondary in terms of why the deal was done. The primary purpose of the investment, he told me, is to bring in Bain to help iManage reach the next stage of its development. IManage’s partnership with Microsoft and the potential for it to grow horizontally, not just within legal, is one to watch, as is its rebuilt RAVN offering – more on that below.
TPG, meanwhile, will effectively extract the Elite business from across TR, which is no mean feat. The legal tech software company has since a 2018 restructure been split up and spread out across TR based on the company’s law firm segment go-to-market approach, with many law firm customers left feeling that Elite has lost its identity. Elite has lost a number of key sites lately to Fulcrum SAP or Aderant, and it will be interesting to see what the future holds in terms of investment under TPG, which acquired Elite for $500m – less than
Take a look in the newsletter for all the other latest wins, deals, and movers and shakers and don’t forget to send me all your news on caroline@legaltechnology.com