Legal Services Acquisitions in 2019

WestView Capital Partners has made a growth capital investment in Unified Patents, a membership-based organization focused on deterring patent abuse through analytics and defensive actions. WestView will take board representation (Jonathan Hunnicutt and Jeff Clark) to support Unified's next phase of growth and capability expansion as the company diversifies its offerings for members.

Funds advised by Apax Partners (the Apax Funds) acquired Lexitas, a Houston-headquartered, technology-enabled litigation support services provider, from Trinity Hunt Partners and Lexitas management/other investors. The investment is intended to accelerate Lexitas's growth through geographic and salesforce expansion, technology differentiation, and strategic M&A.

Questel has signed an agreement to acquire Direct Validation, a Stockholm-based specialist in European patent (EP) validation services founded in 1988. The acquisition adds in-house EP validation and filing capabilities to Questel’s IP software and service offering, strengthening its end-to-end intellectual property services for law firms and corporate IP departments.

Los Angeles-based law company Elevate secured a $25 million minority growth investment from Kayne Partners to scale operations, support continued acquisitions, and enhance its Cael enterprise legal management software. The capital will help Elevate meet increasing customer demand and accelerate product and service expansion to corporate legal departments and global law firms.

Questel has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Brandstock, a Munich-based intellectual property (IP) services provider. The deal expands Questel’s trademark and IP services capabilities and strengthens its presence in Germany and across Europe.

Lexitas, a portfolio company of Trinity Hunt Partners, announced the acquisition of three Northeastern court reporting firms: Barrister Reporting Service (New York, NY), American Stenographic (New York, NY), and Eppley Court Reporting (outside Boston, MA). The deals expand Lexitas’s Northeast footprint and strengthen its coast-to-coast litigation support platform.

Veritext Legal Solutions acquired Epiq's U.S. court reporting business in a divestiture announced March 21, 2019. The deal transfers Epiq's U.S. court reporting employees and operations to Veritext, expanding Veritext's national footprint and consolidating court reporting services under a specialist operator.

Questel has made a majority investment in Concur IP, an India- and U.S.-based intellectual property services firm known for patent drafting and standard-essential patent (SEP) expertise. The acquisition expands Questel’s end-to-end IP services offering by adding patent drafting, international filing and SEP/licensing capabilities while Concur IP’s co-CEOs Nitin Agrawal and Sachin Sinha will continue to lead the business.