Sunnyvale, Calif. – June 24, 2008 – Proofpoint, Inc., the leading provider of unified email security and data loss prevention solutions, today announced that it has acquired Fortiva, Inc., a leading provider of on-demand email archiving solutions for legal discovery, regulatory compliance and email storage management. The acquisition strengthens Proofpoint’s position as a leading vendor of SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) and hybrid solutions for email security, data loss prevention and email archiving.
Fortiva provides an on-demand email archiving solution that addresses three key challenges – email storage management, legal discovery and regulatory compliance – without the headaches of managing an archive in-house. As a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution, the Fortiva Archiving Suite™ can be up and running in days, with minimal upfront capital costs and planning requirements. The Fortiva solution uses an innovative hybrid deployment model that delivers the cost advantages of SaaS with the guaranteed security of on premises appliance.
Fortiva’s archiving solution becomes the latest addition to Proofpoint’s growing family of SaaS and hybrid solutions. Proofpoint’s flagship SaaS solution, Proofpoint on Demand™, delivers Proofpoint’s industry-leading messaging security features—including anti-spam, anti-virus, email policy enforcement, data loss prevention and policy-based encryption capabilities—as a cost-effective, easy-to-adopt and easy-to-manage on-demand service.
Showing posts with label acquisitions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label acquisitions. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
IVIZE acquires DocuLegal and D4
It has been reported that IVIZE LLC acquired Rochester's DocuLegal, a provider of litigation support services in upstate New York.
DocuLegal, with offices in Rochester and Buffalo, becomes IVIZE's latest acquisition, making IVIZE the nation's leading litigation support company.
IVIZE, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is a provider of eDiscovery and legal document services. They currently operate in over 30 markets in the U.S.
IVIZE also announced that it has acquired D4, LLC a leading provider of electronic data collection and forensic analysis services.
DocuLegal, with offices in Rochester and Buffalo, becomes IVIZE's latest acquisition, making IVIZE the nation's leading litigation support company.
IVIZE, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is a provider of eDiscovery and legal document services. They currently operate in over 30 markets in the U.S.
IVIZE also announced that it has acquired D4, LLC a leading provider of electronic data collection and forensic analysis services.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
FTI Consulting, Inc. to Acquire Attenex Corporation
New York, NY -- June 10, 2008 -- FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:FCN), the global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance their enterprise value, today announced that it has signed a merger agreement to acquire Attenex Corporation, a leading eDiscovery software provider. The total purchase price for the transaction is approximately $88 million in cash and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008 after expiration of the HSR waiting period. After amortization of intangibles, the acquisition is expected to be neutral to FTI’s earnings per share in 2008 and accretive in 2009. Attenex had revenue of approximately $25 million in 2007.
Founded in 2001 in Seattle, Washington, Attenex is a globally-recognized leader in the eDiscovery marketplace. Its innovative enterprise class Attenex Patterns® eDiscovery software automates data processing and provides powerful visualization tools for quickly analyzing massive amounts of electronically stored information (ESI). Attenex will be integrated into the FTI Technology segment. Kathryn Hardie, JR Jesson, Mike Kinnaman and Joe White will join FTI as senior managing directors in the Company’s Technology segment.
“We are very pleased to announce this important acquisition for FTI and its Technology segment. In Attenex, we add a market leader with a proven track record in the development and deployment of integrated enterprise class solutions for the eDiscovery market,” said Jack Dunn FTI’s president and chief executive officer. “As with our watershed acquisition of Ringtail, the purchase of Attenex coupled with our newly forged strategic partnership with Endeca Technologies, Inc., also announced today, underscores our commitment to being the market leader in this rapidly growing business. Most importantly, these two steps complete our desire to create the largest, most robust eDiscovery company – one that has visionary R&D, proprietary state of the art software, global distribution and fulfillment, and the leadership to continue rapid growth and to anticipate evolving client needs.”
Founded in 2001 in Seattle, Washington, Attenex is a globally-recognized leader in the eDiscovery marketplace. Its innovative enterprise class Attenex Patterns® eDiscovery software automates data processing and provides powerful visualization tools for quickly analyzing massive amounts of electronically stored information (ESI). Attenex will be integrated into the FTI Technology segment. Kathryn Hardie, JR Jesson, Mike Kinnaman and Joe White will join FTI as senior managing directors in the Company’s Technology segment.
“We are very pleased to announce this important acquisition for FTI and its Technology segment. In Attenex, we add a market leader with a proven track record in the development and deployment of integrated enterprise class solutions for the eDiscovery market,” said Jack Dunn FTI’s president and chief executive officer. “As with our watershed acquisition of Ringtail, the purchase of Attenex coupled with our newly forged strategic partnership with Endeca Technologies, Inc., also announced today, underscores our commitment to being the market leader in this rapidly growing business. Most importantly, these two steps complete our desire to create the largest, most robust eDiscovery company – one that has visionary R&D, proprietary state of the art software, global distribution and fulfillment, and the leadership to continue rapid growth and to anticipate evolving client needs.”
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Integreon plans three more buys for $100 million
BANGALORE -- 10 Jun, 2008 -- Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) firm Integreon Managed Solutions, which recently acquired litigation support and electronic data discovery provider Datum Legal, plans to buy one more company by the end of this year and two others in the next 2-3 years spending a total of $100 million.
“The range is going to be bigger as we are growing. We will acquire another company by the end of this year,” Vice President (Knowledge Business Administration and Professional Document Services) Lokendra Tomar said. Integreon is evaluating possible buys in India, Europe and the US.
Datum, the Los Angeles-based company’s fifth acquisition, was bought for $20-$25 million, according to industry analysts and based on Integreon’s publicly stated intentions in the past.
It plans to hire 6,000 people in three years, majority of them in India. The company currently has 2,000 staff, 1,500 of them at its centres in Mumbai and Delhi. More than 500 of its employees are lawyers.
...An IPO and listing on the Nasdaq are also on the cards, mostly probably in 2010-11, when it expects revenues to touch $250 million. “In three years more than 50% of the growth will be organic and the rest through acquisitions,” he said.
“The range is going to be bigger as we are growing. We will acquire another company by the end of this year,” Vice President (Knowledge Business Administration and Professional Document Services) Lokendra Tomar said. Integreon is evaluating possible buys in India, Europe and the US.
Datum, the Los Angeles-based company’s fifth acquisition, was bought for $20-$25 million, according to industry analysts and based on Integreon’s publicly stated intentions in the past.
It plans to hire 6,000 people in three years, majority of them in India. The company currently has 2,000 staff, 1,500 of them at its centres in Mumbai and Delhi. More than 500 of its employees are lawyers.
...An IPO and listing on the Nasdaq are also on the cards, mostly probably in 2010-11, when it expects revenues to touch $250 million. “In three years more than 50% of the growth will be organic and the rest through acquisitions,” he said.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Electronic Evidence Discovery, Inc. Announces Definitive Agreement to Purchase Daticon, LLC
KIRKLAND, Wash. — June 5, 2008 — Electronic Evidence Discovery, Inc. (EED®), a leading national provider of eDiscovery services, today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to purchase Daticon, LLC. Daticon, which provides early case assessment, electronic discovery, consulting and archive services for law firms, corporations and government agencies, has a strong presence in the Northeastern United States, including preferred provider relationships with leading law firms and Fortune 250 corporations. The Daticon acquisition merges the skills and experience of the Daticon staff with EED’s consulting and project management services capability, broadens the company’s portfolio of on-site services and provides EED with a regional processing facility in the Northeast.
“The acquisition of Daticon allows us to better serve the full range of our customers’ eDiscovery and review requirements, including eDiscovery consulting services across all 14 phases of the EED methodology, on-site services and hosted review or simpler evidence processing,“ said Dave McCann, CEO of EED, Inc. “Fortune 500 corporations are striving to establish best practices and automate them to eliminate risk and cost. Merging our two skill sets will help us to better serve the 85 largest law firms and more than 200 corporations in the Fortune 500 that operate in the Northeastern region. We view the acquisition of Daticon as a strategic investment in customer service.”
EED chose to acquire Daticon because of its experienced and skilled staff — which has served the New York market for more than 10 years — and established base of loyal corporate clients built by their strong track record of providing on-site eDiscovery services.
“Consulting and project management methodology and professional competence are as important to the success of eDiscovery as software technology, if not more so,” said Mike Jahnke, VP & GM of Daticon. “I see EED’s acquisition of Daticon as a tremendous combination of two companies whose combined skill sets, methodologies and intellectual property will result in a higher level of service and innovation for clients. The challenge of repeatable, high quality and cost efficient eDiscovery is a significant one for any Fortune 500 corporation, particularly in light of recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”
“The acquisition of Daticon allows us to better serve the full range of our customers’ eDiscovery and review requirements, including eDiscovery consulting services across all 14 phases of the EED methodology, on-site services and hosted review or simpler evidence processing,“ said Dave McCann, CEO of EED, Inc. “Fortune 500 corporations are striving to establish best practices and automate them to eliminate risk and cost. Merging our two skill sets will help us to better serve the 85 largest law firms and more than 200 corporations in the Fortune 500 that operate in the Northeastern region. We view the acquisition of Daticon as a strategic investment in customer service.”
EED chose to acquire Daticon because of its experienced and skilled staff — which has served the New York market for more than 10 years — and established base of loyal corporate clients built by their strong track record of providing on-site eDiscovery services.
“Consulting and project management methodology and professional competence are as important to the success of eDiscovery as software technology, if not more so,” said Mike Jahnke, VP & GM of Daticon. “I see EED’s acquisition of Daticon as a tremendous combination of two companies whose combined skill sets, methodologies and intellectual property will result in a higher level of service and innovation for clients. The challenge of repeatable, high quality and cost efficient eDiscovery is a significant one for any Fortune 500 corporation, particularly in light of recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
E-discovery Software Company Acquisition Opportunity
This investment opportunity was sent to me by a business broker representing a west coast electronic discovery software company that is looking to sell the business. The company believes they would be a good acquisition target for an email/data archiving company or a national litigation support/e-discovery provider that would like to have its own e-discovery processing/production and review platform. Currently, they are open to acquisition by a larger company that would provide sales and support infrastructure or a strategic investment that would allow them to build out their own infrastructure. The technology fits into the Processing, Review, Analysis and Production phases of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model(EDRM). The following link is to a previous post linked to an article about merger & acquisition trends in the BPO and litigation support markets
Summary
New regulations in corporate compliance, Rules of Civil Procedures and shear volumes of electronically stored information have completely changed the nature of how communications and other electronic information are managed through the discovery process. E-discovery, which has grown rapidly to a $4.2B business, has created a revolution by applying new technologies to what has been a paper driven, manual process. Software product penetration is still considered low as many medium and large organizations are now considering bringing e-discovery products in house to control their litigation costs. Law firms, who have historically relied on service bureaus for e-discovery projects, are also waking up to the need to have e-discovery technology in house. These markets present an extraordinary opportunity to providers of e-discovery software. Our client’s e-discovery software product has been received by users as a breakthrough in its ease of use, efficiency and completeness for collection through production phases of e-discovery.
The Product
This software suite is a complete software package that interfaces seamlessly with upstream applications and manages all file types through the collection, preservation, processing, analysis, review and production phases of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model. In addition to its own technology, the suite incorporates best of breed modules (e.g. Stellent for native document display) into its framework to leverage the power of these tools for legal teams or those tasked with in depth management of an organization’s electronically stored information be it email, specifications, or images.
Product Validation
This product has been selected by several law firms and judged to be easier to use, more complete and more efficient than competing products. The company’s team has members who have database backgrounds, IT experience and have run litigation support service companies. This rich experience has been expressed in the product feature set and the overall usability. Although built for litigation support by litigation support experts, this product is applicable in broad compliance applications or other areas that require data be mined and analyzed.
The Market
As noted above, the litigation support side of the e-discovery market is estimated to be $4.2B today and is expected to grow more than 20% per year. Data volume and the current regulatory environment ensure this growth. A relatively new growth engine for software sales is the trend of bringing these capabilities in house both for law firms as well as corporations. With the number of electronic files increasing and the file sizes growing, the enormity of the task of a single discovery project is growing daily. Litigation cases today involve discovery projects that typically involve 100 – 400GB of data. With service bureaus normally charging between $1,000 and $1,500/GB to process that data, the cost per event can quickly consume a legal team’s budget. SOX, recent changes to the Federal Rules for Civil Procedures (FRCP) and expected changes at the state level have added extra demands on legal teams to produce more relevant information in less time. Legal teams are desperate for solutions that will allow them to work closely with their IT departments to minimize the disruption to ongoing business.
This product is targeted for several markets and delivery mechanisms. Using this product suite, law firms can provide fee-based services to their clients instead of out-sourcing to service bureaus. Corporate in-house legal and compliance teams can achieve almost immediate positive payback by performing their own discovery. Service bureaus can sell services based on the product for those law firms and clients that do not have the capability in house or to cover peak demand periods. E-discovery capabilities based on this software can either be delivered as an enterprise application or delivered on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis. In addition to litigation support, organizations can use the software to provide compliance support or support any application that requires analysis and processing of electronically stored information.
Competition
In customer evaluations, this product competes favorably with similar e-discovery and native review solutions that are currently available on the market. This product is generally broader in capability and far easier to use according to customers who have reviewed many competing products. For more information on competing products you can visit the following link to a previous post regarding the Gartner MarketScope for E-Discovery and Litigation Support Vendors, 2007.
Strategic Acquisition Opportunity
This company is at a critical juncture and is exploring several strategic alternatives. As a young company they have focused on building out a complete product, which is now in use at a small number of customer sites. At this point they are open to acquisition by a larger company that would provide sales and support infrastructure or a strategic investment that would allow them to build out their own infrastructure.
Miscellaneous
End User Testimonials (Complete Law Firm Case Studies Available)
"Production with [the product] is robust, we were able to produce native formats, and image formats from review sets that were categorized and tagged, and we could produce by designation within any review set. We are a small firm with big cases and we needed something that could process difficult file types, and get us up and reviewing quickly and [the product] filled the need perfectly.” Patent Litigation Attorney
"[The product’s] functionality allows for document processing, web-based confidential/native document review, and document production (multiple formats). A perfect example of [the products’s] incredible processing capability is its robust processing function, which allows the opening and viewing of all file types from legacy documents to today’s current web content." Attorney
Technology Highlights (Complete Performance Testing Report Available)
Code Size: 650,000 lines
-Language: C #, ASP.Net
-Database SQL Server 2005
Code Status: In Production
Configuration Options
• Hosted (SaaS Model), Or
• Enterprise Installation
Product Highlights
• Complete audit trail for every file with who, when, what information for each ‘touch’
• Granular access control to protect confidentiality
• Security of original data guaranteed with “locked” tamper proof copy for further audit support
• Culling and de-duplication support to minimize data movement and increase performance
• Advanced search capability to find relevant information based on words, phrases, wildcard, fuzzy, proximity, Boolean and concept searches in both data and meta data over both parent and attachments in email.
• Native file review to simplify display, speed review and increase productivity
• Support of sophisticated manipulation during review such as tagging and redacting
• Intuitive user interface modeled on MS Outlook to minimize training time and support burden
For More Information: Contact Brad Jenkins, jenkins.bradley@gmail.com or 832-349-3000.
Summary
New regulations in corporate compliance, Rules of Civil Procedures and shear volumes of electronically stored information have completely changed the nature of how communications and other electronic information are managed through the discovery process. E-discovery, which has grown rapidly to a $4.2B business, has created a revolution by applying new technologies to what has been a paper driven, manual process. Software product penetration is still considered low as many medium and large organizations are now considering bringing e-discovery products in house to control their litigation costs. Law firms, who have historically relied on service bureaus for e-discovery projects, are also waking up to the need to have e-discovery technology in house. These markets present an extraordinary opportunity to providers of e-discovery software. Our client’s e-discovery software product has been received by users as a breakthrough in its ease of use, efficiency and completeness for collection through production phases of e-discovery.
The Product
This software suite is a complete software package that interfaces seamlessly with upstream applications and manages all file types through the collection, preservation, processing, analysis, review and production phases of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model. In addition to its own technology, the suite incorporates best of breed modules (e.g. Stellent for native document display) into its framework to leverage the power of these tools for legal teams or those tasked with in depth management of an organization’s electronically stored information be it email, specifications, or images.
Product Validation
This product has been selected by several law firms and judged to be easier to use, more complete and more efficient than competing products. The company’s team has members who have database backgrounds, IT experience and have run litigation support service companies. This rich experience has been expressed in the product feature set and the overall usability. Although built for litigation support by litigation support experts, this product is applicable in broad compliance applications or other areas that require data be mined and analyzed.
The Market
As noted above, the litigation support side of the e-discovery market is estimated to be $4.2B today and is expected to grow more than 20% per year. Data volume and the current regulatory environment ensure this growth. A relatively new growth engine for software sales is the trend of bringing these capabilities in house both for law firms as well as corporations. With the number of electronic files increasing and the file sizes growing, the enormity of the task of a single discovery project is growing daily. Litigation cases today involve discovery projects that typically involve 100 – 400GB of data. With service bureaus normally charging between $1,000 and $1,500/GB to process that data, the cost per event can quickly consume a legal team’s budget. SOX, recent changes to the Federal Rules for Civil Procedures (FRCP) and expected changes at the state level have added extra demands on legal teams to produce more relevant information in less time. Legal teams are desperate for solutions that will allow them to work closely with their IT departments to minimize the disruption to ongoing business.
This product is targeted for several markets and delivery mechanisms. Using this product suite, law firms can provide fee-based services to their clients instead of out-sourcing to service bureaus. Corporate in-house legal and compliance teams can achieve almost immediate positive payback by performing their own discovery. Service bureaus can sell services based on the product for those law firms and clients that do not have the capability in house or to cover peak demand periods. E-discovery capabilities based on this software can either be delivered as an enterprise application or delivered on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis. In addition to litigation support, organizations can use the software to provide compliance support or support any application that requires analysis and processing of electronically stored information.
Competition
In customer evaluations, this product competes favorably with similar e-discovery and native review solutions that are currently available on the market. This product is generally broader in capability and far easier to use according to customers who have reviewed many competing products. For more information on competing products you can visit the following link to a previous post regarding the Gartner MarketScope for E-Discovery and Litigation Support Vendors, 2007.
Strategic Acquisition Opportunity
This company is at a critical juncture and is exploring several strategic alternatives. As a young company they have focused on building out a complete product, which is now in use at a small number of customer sites. At this point they are open to acquisition by a larger company that would provide sales and support infrastructure or a strategic investment that would allow them to build out their own infrastructure.
Miscellaneous
End User Testimonials (Complete Law Firm Case Studies Available)
"Production with [the product] is robust, we were able to produce native formats, and image formats from review sets that were categorized and tagged, and we could produce by designation within any review set. We are a small firm with big cases and we needed something that could process difficult file types, and get us up and reviewing quickly and [the product] filled the need perfectly.” Patent Litigation Attorney
"[The product’s] functionality allows for document processing, web-based confidential/native document review, and document production (multiple formats). A perfect example of [the products’s] incredible processing capability is its robust processing function, which allows the opening and viewing of all file types from legacy documents to today’s current web content." Attorney
Technology Highlights (Complete Performance Testing Report Available)
Code Size: 650,000 lines
-Language: C #, ASP.Net
-Database SQL Server 2005
Code Status: In Production
Configuration Options
• Hosted (SaaS Model), Or
• Enterprise Installation
Product Highlights
• Complete audit trail for every file with who, when, what information for each ‘touch’
• Granular access control to protect confidentiality
• Security of original data guaranteed with “locked” tamper proof copy for further audit support
• Culling and de-duplication support to minimize data movement and increase performance
• Advanced search capability to find relevant information based on words, phrases, wildcard, fuzzy, proximity, Boolean and concept searches in both data and meta data over both parent and attachments in email.
• Native file review to simplify display, speed review and increase productivity
• Support of sophisticated manipulation during review such as tagging and redacting
• Intuitive user interface modeled on MS Outlook to minimize training time and support burden
For More Information: Contact Brad Jenkins, jenkins.bradley@gmail.com or 832-349-3000.
Integreon acquires Datum Legal, Inc.
LOS ANGELES, CA, June 3, 2008 – Integreon Managed Solutions, Inc., a global leader in integrated knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), announced today that it has acquired Datum Legal, Inc., a leading litigation support and electronic data discovery (EDD) company in New York City. Chris Egan, Datum Legal’s founder and CEO, has been named an Integreon Senior Vice President and will oversee the company’s Discovery Solutions business.
Acquiring Datum Legal, with its experienced e-discovery professionals and state-of-the-art 20,000 square foot facility, builds on Integreon’s 2006 acquisition of Bowne & Co.’s Digital Litigation Support business to give Integreon unparalleled litigation support capabilities in New York.
Integreon is the leading global legal process outsourcing (LPO) firm with 400 offshore professionals reviewing litigation documents for law firms and Global 2000 corporations. With the addition of Datum Legal’s capabilities, Integreon now offers an integrated discovery management solution with a guaranteed fixed-price per document. Furthermore, corporations and law firms can now deal with a single point of contact for all the key elements of an e-discovery case: professional services, data reduction through analytics, processing, hosting, and attorney review. Integreon performs all services at its wholly owned facilities, both onshore and offshore.
Acquiring Datum Legal, with its experienced e-discovery professionals and state-of-the-art 20,000 square foot facility, builds on Integreon’s 2006 acquisition of Bowne & Co.’s Digital Litigation Support business to give Integreon unparalleled litigation support capabilities in New York.
Integreon is the leading global legal process outsourcing (LPO) firm with 400 offshore professionals reviewing litigation documents for law firms and Global 2000 corporations. With the addition of Datum Legal’s capabilities, Integreon now offers an integrated discovery management solution with a guaranteed fixed-price per document. Furthermore, corporations and law firms can now deal with a single point of contact for all the key elements of an e-discovery case: professional services, data reduction through analytics, processing, hosting, and attorney review. Integreon performs all services at its wholly owned facilities, both onshore and offshore.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Aptara Being Courted by Large Indian BPO & IT Players
Here is an interesting article about Aptara, whom recently sold off its litigation support division to Ivize. Aptara, who changed its name from Tech Books in 2007, had gotten into the litigation support services business by purchasing Whitmont Legal Technologies.
MUMBAI: A couple of large buyout funds, foreign strategic players and Indian IT & BPO players, including Infosys Technologies, are learnt to be in the race for Aptara, a third-party BPO in technology publishing. Promoted by US-based Indian, Rakesh Gupta, the firm is one of the oldest and established players in the industry, having started in 1988.
No official confirmation was available, but sources said six players have been shortlisted and the sale could be concluded in a couple of weeks. Avendus Advisors is advising the firm on the sale process. The final deal could be around $150 million, a source said.
Till recently, known as Techbooks, the company changed its name to Aptara in 2007 to reflect its intent to diversify into services outside its core publishing and content business.
...last year, the firm also diversified into legal services by acquiring Whitmont Legal Technologies, a litigation support firm. According to information in public domain, the company has grown from about Rs 247 crore in revenues in 2005-06 to Rs 336 crore in 2006-07.
MUMBAI: A couple of large buyout funds, foreign strategic players and Indian IT & BPO players, including Infosys Technologies, are learnt to be in the race for Aptara, a third-party BPO in technology publishing. Promoted by US-based Indian, Rakesh Gupta, the firm is one of the oldest and established players in the industry, having started in 1988.
No official confirmation was available, but sources said six players have been shortlisted and the sale could be concluded in a couple of weeks. Avendus Advisors is advising the firm on the sale process. The final deal could be around $150 million, a source said.
Till recently, known as Techbooks, the company changed its name to Aptara in 2007 to reflect its intent to diversify into services outside its core publishing and content business.
...last year, the firm also diversified into legal services by acquiring Whitmont Legal Technologies, a litigation support firm. According to information in public domain, the company has grown from about Rs 247 crore in revenues in 2005-06 to Rs 336 crore in 2006-07.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
GlobalOptions Acquires First Advantage's Investigative Unit
NEW YORK & POWAY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 21, 2008--GlobalOptions Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLOI), a leading provider of domestic and international risk management services, and First Advantage Corporation (NASDAQ: FADV), a global risk mitigation and business solutions provider, today announced a new strategic alliance in which both companies will cross-sell each other's complementary risk management services. The two companies also announced that GlobalOptions has acquired the surveillance assets of First Advantage's subsidiary, First Advantage Investigative Services. The transaction does not include First Advantage Investigative Services' due diligence operation, which provides unique, data driven services mainly for hedge fund investors.
Under the terms of the strategic business alliance, GlobalOptions and First Advantage will offer their existing and prospective clients a combined portfolio of services. First Advantage will have the opportunity to offer its clients GlobalOptions Group's three main areas of service: fraud and SIU investigations, crisis management and preparedness services and security consulting and investigations. GlobalOptions will be able to draw upon First Advantage's diverse client base and comprehensive suite of global talent acquisition solutions.
"We are pleased to partner with GlobalOptions, which has built an organization that combines the very best in experience and expertise across the risk management space," said Anand Nallathambi, president and chief executive officer of First Advantage Corp. "This strategic alliance will benefit both our companies with an expanded suite of service solutions and enable us to deliver premier risk mitigation services to our valued clients."
Under the terms of the strategic business alliance, GlobalOptions and First Advantage will offer their existing and prospective clients a combined portfolio of services. First Advantage will have the opportunity to offer its clients GlobalOptions Group's three main areas of service: fraud and SIU investigations, crisis management and preparedness services and security consulting and investigations. GlobalOptions will be able to draw upon First Advantage's diverse client base and comprehensive suite of global talent acquisition solutions.
"We are pleased to partner with GlobalOptions, which has built an organization that combines the very best in experience and expertise across the risk management space," said Anand Nallathambi, president and chief executive officer of First Advantage Corp. "This strategic alliance will benefit both our companies with an expanded suite of service solutions and enable us to deliver premier risk mitigation services to our valued clients."
Monday, April 14, 2008
Google's New Subscription Pricing Approach for Email Archiving
Here is an interesting article about how Google is pricing its Postini email archival and e-discovery solution. With Google, Yahoo and now Dell, all entering the email archiving game through recent acquisitions, it will be interesting to see how the pricing models shake out.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Epiq Systems Acquires London Based E-Discovery Firm, Pinpoint Global, Ltd.
Kansas City, KS (April 7, 2008) - Epiq Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: EPIQ), a leading provider of technology solutions for the legal profession, today announced further expansion of its London office with the acquisition of Pinpoint Global, Ltd., an emerging provider of proprietary electronic discovery / electronic disclosure solutions.
Epiq Systems is developing its international e-discovery business aggressively with significant organic growth augmented by select strategic investments. Epiq recently introduced DocuMatrix 12.0, the international version of our document review software, that supports 60+ foreign languages. In March, Epiq announced self-certification to the U.S. Department of Commerce "Safe Harbor" privacy principles for superior support of international engagements, and in February, the staff of Effective Case Management Ltd. (ECM), a UK professional services company specializing in document management for the UK legal profession since 1999, joined Epiq Systems' U.K. organization.
Pinpoint Global Ltd. has developed advanced proprietary software for electronic disclosure that has been used as "software as a service" to "Magic Circle" law firms. The Pinpoint founding shareholders have significant experience in electronic disclosure and will join Epiq's U.K. organization in senior positions. Pro forma 2007 revenue for Pinpoint's business approximated £1.1mm.
Epiq Systems is developing its international e-discovery business aggressively with significant organic growth augmented by select strategic investments. Epiq recently introduced DocuMatrix 12.0, the international version of our document review software, that supports 60+ foreign languages. In March, Epiq announced self-certification to the U.S. Department of Commerce "Safe Harbor" privacy principles for superior support of international engagements, and in February, the staff of Effective Case Management Ltd. (ECM), a UK professional services company specializing in document management for the UK legal profession since 1999, joined Epiq Systems' U.K. organization.
Pinpoint Global Ltd. has developed advanced proprietary software for electronic disclosure that has been used as "software as a service" to "Magic Circle" law firms. The Pinpoint founding shareholders have significant experience in electronic disclosure and will join Epiq's U.K. organization in senior positions. Pro forma 2007 revenue for Pinpoint's business approximated £1.1mm.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
HP is Expanding its Capabilities in Fast-growing e-Discovery and Compliance Software Market by Acquiring Tower Software
PALO ALTO, Calif., March 31, 2008 -- HP and Tower Software today announced that they have signed a pre-bid agreement for HP to acquire Tower, a document and records management software company based in Canberra, Australia.
The deal will enable HP to expand its offerings in the fast-growing electronic discovery and compliance software market.
The acquisition of Tower will add electronic records management to HP Software’s existing e-discovery and compliance capabilities in information collection and retention. This includes both records management and identification,(1) which have become increasingly important for organization due to rules and regulations such as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts.
Under an existing alliance between the companies, Tower TRIM Context has been integrated with the HP Integrated Archive Platform to provide customers with a combined records management and compliance archiving solution.
Combining HP’s and Tower’s overall software capabilities will enable customers to rapidly identify electronic business records from general business communication, collect those business records in a scalable and high-performance archive platform and preserve them for long-term future use in legal discovery or compliance activities.
The deal will enable HP to expand its offerings in the fast-growing electronic discovery and compliance software market.
The acquisition of Tower will add electronic records management to HP Software’s existing e-discovery and compliance capabilities in information collection and retention. This includes both records management and identification,(1) which have become increasingly important for organization due to rules and regulations such as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts.
Under an existing alliance between the companies, Tower TRIM Context has been integrated with the HP Integrated Archive Platform to provide customers with a combined records management and compliance archiving solution.
Combining HP’s and Tower’s overall software capabilities will enable customers to rapidly identify electronic business records from general business communication, collect those business records in a scalable and high-performance archive platform and preserve them for long-term future use in legal discovery or compliance activities.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Stroz Friedberg Acquires Docuity, an Electronic Discovery Technology Company
NEW YORK, March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Stroz Friedberg, a leading consulting and technical services firm announced today the acquisition of Docuity, a provider of advanced electronic discovery technology solutions.
"Combining Stroz Friedberg's prowess in digital forensics and electronic discovery consulting with Docuity's innovative technology will give our client's end-to-end e-discovery management with superior capabilities to index and search large volumes of unstructured data" stated Eric Friedberg, Stroz Friedberg's Co-President. "The result is better cost controls and an ability to ensure quality throughout the entire e-discovery process. We are particularly excited to share with our global clients the unique features of our new platform, including auto-indexing, sophisticated clustering and other user-friendly retrieval functions, and foreign language processing and translation capabilities," he added.
With the Docuity acquisition, Stroz Friedberg now has the capability to offer comprehensive e-discovery management, processing, load file creation and online hosting review using the most advanced document and knowledge management tools available. The firm's patent-pending technology uses artificial intelligence, optical character recognition, natural language, pattern recognition and rules-based processing to extract from scanned paper and electronic documents key information such as the printed date of the document, the actual author, the actual addressee, the entity from which the document was sent, and the persons, entities and actions referenced in the document; all critical data that formerly required expensive and time- consuming manual effort.
"Combining Stroz Friedberg's prowess in digital forensics and electronic discovery consulting with Docuity's innovative technology will give our client's end-to-end e-discovery management with superior capabilities to index and search large volumes of unstructured data" stated Eric Friedberg, Stroz Friedberg's Co-President. "The result is better cost controls and an ability to ensure quality throughout the entire e-discovery process. We are particularly excited to share with our global clients the unique features of our new platform, including auto-indexing, sophisticated clustering and other user-friendly retrieval functions, and foreign language processing and translation capabilities," he added.
With the Docuity acquisition, Stroz Friedberg now has the capability to offer comprehensive e-discovery management, processing, load file creation and online hosting review using the most advanced document and knowledge management tools available. The firm's patent-pending technology uses artificial intelligence, optical character recognition, natural language, pattern recognition and rules-based processing to extract from scanned paper and electronic documents key information such as the printed date of the document, the actual author, the actual addressee, the entity from which the document was sent, and the persons, entities and actions referenced in the document; all critical data that formerly required expensive and time- consuming manual effort.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
FTI Consulting, Inc. Announces the Acquisition of Brazilian Forensic Consulting Firm
Baltimore, MD - February 28, 2008, FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:FCN), the global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance their enterprise value, today announced that it has acquired TSC Brasil Limitada (TSC), the leading systems integrator and computer forensic and IT security consultant in the Brazilian and greater South American marketplace. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1999, TSC is headquartered in Sao Paulo. TSC is a leading provider of a full suite of digital risk management services, including IT security, computer forensics, and consulting services. The firm has developed an innovative new approach, “Digital Risk Management”, which leverages its expertise across its various service areas to provide clients with a complete end-to-end solution to their computer risk management needs. TSC’s client base includes a number of the region’s leading companies, as well as multi-nationals doing business in Brazil and greater South America. TSC will be integrated into FTI’s global business intelligence and investigations group, reporting directly to Frank Holder, Senior Managing Director in FTI’s Forensic and Litigation Consulting (FLC) practice. Rinaldo Angelicola, Paulo Araujo and Eduardo Sanches of TSC have joined FTI as Managing Directors in the Company’s FLC practice.
“TSC represents another excellent acquisition for FTI that further enhances our ability to help our clients in South America manage their enterprise risks,” said Jack Dunn, President and CEO of FTI. “It will extend our eDiscovery platform into this large and dynamic market where we are experiencing dramatic growth driven by accelerated anti-money laundering and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) activity plus a growing number of cross-border assignments from domestic clients expanding into foreign markets. It will also complement the services we provide in our FLC practice, and will further enhance our dedication to providing our customers with the market leading technology to address their risk management and mitigation needs. TSC has excellent long-term growth prospects, a strong reputation in its market and domain expertise in the financial services sector.”
Founded in 1999, TSC is headquartered in Sao Paulo. TSC is a leading provider of a full suite of digital risk management services, including IT security, computer forensics, and consulting services. The firm has developed an innovative new approach, “Digital Risk Management”, which leverages its expertise across its various service areas to provide clients with a complete end-to-end solution to their computer risk management needs. TSC’s client base includes a number of the region’s leading companies, as well as multi-nationals doing business in Brazil and greater South America. TSC will be integrated into FTI’s global business intelligence and investigations group, reporting directly to Frank Holder, Senior Managing Director in FTI’s Forensic and Litigation Consulting (FLC) practice. Rinaldo Angelicola, Paulo Araujo and Eduardo Sanches of TSC have joined FTI as Managing Directors in the Company’s FLC practice.
“TSC represents another excellent acquisition for FTI that further enhances our ability to help our clients in South America manage their enterprise risks,” said Jack Dunn, President and CEO of FTI. “It will extend our eDiscovery platform into this large and dynamic market where we are experiencing dramatic growth driven by accelerated anti-money laundering and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) activity plus a growing number of cross-border assignments from domestic clients expanding into foreign markets. It will also complement the services we provide in our FLC practice, and will further enhance our dedication to providing our customers with the market leading technology to address their risk management and mitigation needs. TSC has excellent long-term growth prospects, a strong reputation in its market and domain expertise in the financial services sector.”
Friday, February 29, 2008
Iron Mountain Looking to Continue Expanding Through Acquisition
Information storage provider Iron Mountain Inc. has named Bob Brennan as CEO. Brennan plans to use his strong background in M&A and corporate growth to drive business past $3 billion in revenues this year. "We are expanding geographically, and acquisition is definitely central to our strategy going forward," he said.
Brennan, 47, became COO for the company in 2005 through Iron Mountain's acquisition of Connected Corp., which he ran. Prior to Connected he worked for Cisco Systems Inc., which he joined when it bought American Internet, where he was also CEO. "I learned that someone has to want to buy you; you can't just sell a company," Brennan said.
Last year Boston-based Iron Mountain acquired over 20 companies. As the company continues to expand into high-growth markets such as China, Australia, Russia and Malaysia, partnering and joint ventures are also a central part of the strategy. "We have 15 joint ventures and partnerships with companies in these areas, and eight of those have ended in acquisition, and we expect the other seven to end similarly," Brennan said. Brennan added that Iron Mountain does not plan on divesting any companies.
With its November 2007 acquisition of Stratify Inc., Iron Mountain will expand in the litigation tool and technology space. "Electronic discovery makes it easier for our clients to find documents for legal reasons, so this is the next level," Brennan said.
Brennan, 47, became COO for the company in 2005 through Iron Mountain's acquisition of Connected Corp., which he ran. Prior to Connected he worked for Cisco Systems Inc., which he joined when it bought American Internet, where he was also CEO. "I learned that someone has to want to buy you; you can't just sell a company," Brennan said.
Last year Boston-based Iron Mountain acquired over 20 companies. As the company continues to expand into high-growth markets such as China, Australia, Russia and Malaysia, partnering and joint ventures are also a central part of the strategy. "We have 15 joint ventures and partnerships with companies in these areas, and eight of those have ended in acquisition, and we expect the other seven to end similarly," Brennan said. Brennan added that Iron Mountain does not plan on divesting any companies.
With its November 2007 acquisition of Stratify Inc., Iron Mountain will expand in the litigation tool and technology space. "Electronic discovery makes it easier for our clients to find documents for legal reasons, so this is the next level," Brennan said.
Dell to Acquire Leading SaaS E-Mail Continuity, Compliance and Archiving Company MessageOne
Round Rock, Texas, February 12, 2008, Dell has signed a definitive agreement to acquire MessageOne, Inc., an industry leader in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) enabled enterprise-class e-mail business continuity, compliance, archiving and disaster recovery services. The acquisition, for approximately $155 million in cash, has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
MessageOne’s suite of services helps eliminate the downtime and complexity associated with managing, archiving, e-discovery, and long-term storage of e-mail.
“This is a valuable acquisition for Dell. MessageOne’s offerings add key capabilities to our growing SaaS-enabled services portfolio for the most critical application to businesses of any size – e-mail,” said Steve Schuckenbrock, president, Dell Global Services, and chief information officer. “MessageOne’s services not only meet the needs of large companies – with an impressive roster of existing Fortune-500 customers and marquee partners as proof points – but can also scale down cost effectively to meet the needs of small and medium business customers.”
A leader in the industry, MessageOne brings to Dell world-class technology and talent that will broaden Dell’s configurable services offerings. The company plans to make MessageOne offerings available after close to both direct customers and channel partners.
MessageOne’s suite of services helps eliminate the downtime and complexity associated with managing, archiving, e-discovery, and long-term storage of e-mail.
“This is a valuable acquisition for Dell. MessageOne’s offerings add key capabilities to our growing SaaS-enabled services portfolio for the most critical application to businesses of any size – e-mail,” said Steve Schuckenbrock, president, Dell Global Services, and chief information officer. “MessageOne’s services not only meet the needs of large companies – with an impressive roster of existing Fortune-500 customers and marquee partners as proof points – but can also scale down cost effectively to meet the needs of small and medium business customers.”
A leader in the industry, MessageOne brings to Dell world-class technology and talent that will broaden Dell’s configurable services offerings. The company plans to make MessageOne offerings available after close to both direct customers and channel partners.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
FTI Consulting, Inc. Announces the Acquisition of Strategic Discovery, Inc.
New York, NY - February 12, 2008 - FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:FCN), the global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance their enterprise value, today announced the acquisition of Strategic Discovery, Inc. (“SDI”), a premier firm known for its market and thought leadership as well as its steadfast commitment to advancing rational and cost effective responses for corporate clients facing Electronically Stored Information (ESI) demands. Further details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Strategic Discovery is a leader in the litigation discovery industry with innovative, comprehensive approaches to paper and electronic discovery as well as records management. SDI’s twenty-five professionals bring more than 250 years of direct hands-on experience solving problems in law firms, major corporations and top technology and consulting firms.
Strategic Discovery is a leader in the litigation discovery industry with innovative, comprehensive approaches to paper and electronic discovery as well as records management. SDI’s twenty-five professionals bring more than 250 years of direct hands-on experience solving problems in law firms, major corporations and top technology and consulting firms.
E-Mail Archiving Vendor TeraCloud Acquires Estorian, Inc.
BELLEVUE—February 12, 2008 -- TeraCloud Corporation today announced the January 9, 2008, acquisition of Bellevue, Wash.-based Estorian, Inc., and the adoption of Estorian, Inc., as the company name. Estorian’s flagship product, LookingGlass, is the first and only solution to offer interactive intelligence that brings the worlds of e-mail archival, retrieval and e-discovery together in a single interface.
“LookingGlass is the new benchmark for companies interested in proactively managing their e-mail archival, retrieval and e-discovery challenges,” said Estorian President and CEO Gary Tidd. “LookingGlass finds the right data in the fastest and most cost-effective way to ‘preserve and produce obligations’ consistent with the latest Federal e-discovery rules.”
“LookingGlass is the new benchmark for companies interested in proactively managing their e-mail archival, retrieval and e-discovery challenges,” said Estorian President and CEO Gary Tidd. “LookingGlass finds the right data in the fastest and most cost-effective way to ‘preserve and produce obligations’ consistent with the latest Federal e-discovery rules.”
Friday, February 01, 2008
Ivize purchases litigation support business unit from Aptara
Falls Church, Virginia – January 14, 2008 – Aptara, Inc., a global leader in content transformation technology, announced today the sale of its litigation support business unit to Ivize, a market-leading provider of legal document services. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Aptara provides a range of content services enabling companies to develop, prepare, manage and present their proprietary information assets in new and innovative ways. Aptara’s proprietary technologies have made it an industry leader in the rapidly growing fields of publishing, eLearning and content management. The market for textbooks alone will reach $7.8 billion within five years, according to Forrester Research.
“Given the rapid growth of these sectors globally, it is critical that Aptara focus all of its resources on expanding its leadership positions in publishing, eLearning and content management,” said Dev Ganesan, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Aptara. “The sale of the litigation support business unit allows management and the company to focus on our core business and to continue the company’s almost twenty year legacy of developing innovative content solutions to meet customer needs.”
Aptara provides a range of content services enabling companies to develop, prepare, manage and present their proprietary information assets in new and innovative ways. Aptara’s proprietary technologies have made it an industry leader in the rapidly growing fields of publishing, eLearning and content management. The market for textbooks alone will reach $7.8 billion within five years, according to Forrester Research.
“Given the rapid growth of these sectors globally, it is critical that Aptara focus all of its resources on expanding its leadership positions in publishing, eLearning and content management,” said Dev Ganesan, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Aptara. “The sale of the litigation support business unit allows management and the company to focus on our core business and to continue the company’s almost twenty year legacy of developing innovative content solutions to meet customer needs.”
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Merger & Acquisition Trends in the BPO and Litigation Support Markets
This report, published by VRA Partners in late 2007, provides details about the increased M&A activity in the litigation support sector, along with a list of the transactions (listing target and acquiring companies) dating back to January 2005.
ATLANTA, September 1, 2007 – Business process outsourcing (“BPO”), or the use of external providers to deliver some portion of a company’s typically non-core business functions, has continually been heralded as an industry of significant growth and growth potential. The statistics from the first half of 2007 and current market forecasts support the industry’s reputation. The market research firm Gartner estimates that BPO was a $128.8 billion dollar market in 2005 and will become a $191.3 billion dollar market by 2010, generating a compound annual growth rate, (“CAGR”), of 8.2% over the period. The value of global BPO contracts rose 9% in the first half of 2007, and the global demand for outsourcing rose 37% over the second quarter alone, according to BPO research firm NelsonHall and BPO provider EquaTerra.
There are several factors driving the increased acceptance and use of outsourcing. The historical driver of outsourcing has been the desire of companies to utilize BPO firms to reduce costs through synergies, efficiencies and best practices by delivering services across a large customer base. In doing so, a company avoids the management headaches and investment dollars necessary to perform a function internally that can be better performed by someone whose business is focused on delivering the same service.
ATLANTA, September 1, 2007 – Business process outsourcing (“BPO”), or the use of external providers to deliver some portion of a company’s typically non-core business functions, has continually been heralded as an industry of significant growth and growth potential. The statistics from the first half of 2007 and current market forecasts support the industry’s reputation. The market research firm Gartner estimates that BPO was a $128.8 billion dollar market in 2005 and will become a $191.3 billion dollar market by 2010, generating a compound annual growth rate, (“CAGR”), of 8.2% over the period. The value of global BPO contracts rose 9% in the first half of 2007, and the global demand for outsourcing rose 37% over the second quarter alone, according to BPO research firm NelsonHall and BPO provider EquaTerra.
There are several factors driving the increased acceptance and use of outsourcing. The historical driver of outsourcing has been the desire of companies to utilize BPO firms to reduce costs through synergies, efficiencies and best practices by delivering services across a large customer base. In doing so, a company avoids the management headaches and investment dollars necessary to perform a function internally that can be better performed by someone whose business is focused on delivering the same service.
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