On Monday, Clio, a 17-year-old Canadian law practice management software company, revealed that it has consented to obtain vLex, a 26-year-old legal information intelligence platform, in a $1 billion cash-and-stock deal.The statement comes about a year after Clios enormous $900 million financing round, which almost doubled the Vancouver, British Columbia-based business evaluation from $1.6 billion in 2021 to $3 billion.vLex, which was mostly bootstrapped up until it was acquired by private equity firm Oakley Capital in 2022, has actually been an extremely desired property, according to Jack Newton, CEO and founder of Clio.Harvey, the AI-native legal tech startup, attempted to acquire vLex a year ago, however the acquisition didnt come together, as reported by The Information last July.
vLex is a valuable residential or commercial property due to the fact that its database of legal documents can greatly enhance AI designs for lawyers.Data is among the only long-lasting defensible competitive moats a company can have in the area, Newton told A Technology NewsRoom.vLex takes on the Thomson Reuters-owned legal database and LexisNexis.
The acquisition comes shortly after Harvey revealed a partnership with LexisNexis, intending to enrich Harveys AI with LexisNexis data.With the acquisition of vLex, Clio, which offers law firms with time-tracking, invoicing, and electronic payment tools, is now efficiently stepping into the practice of law itself.Over the last few years, vLex has developed Vincent, an AI design built on top of the companys legal material database.AI is going to drive a convergence of what have historically been distinct classifications of software: business of law and the practice of law, Newton stated.
He included that Clios customers in the little and medium law firm section will now have access to Vincents AI capabilities.In addition to announcing strategies to obtain vLex, Clio said it has actually reached $300 million in annual recurring earnings (ARR).