As observed by one industry commentator, not so long ago Seal Software was the new kid on the block but today (12 July) the contract discovery vendor announced that it has acquired its North Carolina-headquartered contract analytics partner Apogee Legal, in a move that will bolster Seal’s intelligent content analytics (ICA) AI solutions and its global management team.
The acquisition, which follows the recent $30m cash injection by Toba Capital, is said to give users access to a broader and deeper set of analytics and insight. “That insight empowers users to manage their business’s legal and regulatory exposure, and extract valuable intelligence and data from complex documents such as vendor and customer contracts, financial documents, lease agreements and a plethora of others,” the statement out today claims.
“Our clients have been clear that not only do they want an enterprise-class platform for contract analysis, but equally they need to solve their specific business problems,” said Ulf Zetterberg, co-founder and CEO of Seal Software. “Over the past four years the Apogee team, which includes more than 20 AI- literate lawyers, has helped many of our clients do just that, as well as proactively developing advanced analytic ‘packs’ for highly complex cases. Having Apogee officially join Seal means that all of our clients will now be able to access the Apogee team’s expertise and their advanced analytics.”
Apogee Legal, whose advanced analytics includes solutions for a variety of industries and applications, has been a Seal business partner since 2015, when it released its automated vendor contracts compliance solution on Seal’s platform. The VCC can reduce the amount of time to review a single sourcing agreement by 75% or more.
Since 2016, Apogee has released multiple advanced analytics packs, on the Seal platform, to solve for a variety of enterprise challenges, including:
– Procurement Insight – advanced analytics to address supplier risk, regulatory requirements and common business questions
– M&A Insight – analytics for M&A transactions with an emphasis on enterprise integration and risk management
– GDPR Insight – data privacy solutions and third-party risk for the enterprise
– Financial Services Suite – including QFCs, syndicated credit agreements and ISDA master agreements
Reacting to the news, Jonathan Maas, founder of The Maas Consulting Group, said: “Interesting. Not so long ago Seal was the new kid on the block; now it’s expanding by buying a more established player. Nice and quick way to grow especially after being business partners. It also opens up a non-US market for Apogee Legal. Win-win.”
In connection with the transaction, Seal announced the following:
– All members of the Apogee team will be joining Seal and Seal will be expanding Apogee’s Charlotte, North Carolina, operations further as its east coast development center.
– Apogee co-founder, Matt Miller, will be responsible on an ongoing basis for leading both the Seal analytics production group and the Seal legal solutions team, and will have oversight of Seal’s Charlotte operations.
– Apogee co-founder, Steve Harber, a veteran of more than 20 years in the legal technology arena, will focus on building out the Seal legal solutions strategy and the Seal legal partner channel.
– Apogee co-founder, Jim Wagner, will become chief strategy officer for Seal. In his capacity as chief strategy officer, Wagner will work closely with the Seal executive team to create, communicate and ensure the execution of the strategic plan for the company.
Seal’s acquisition of Apogee is effective as of July 1, 2018, and all regulatory and other consents have been received.
See also:
https://legaltechnology.com//latest-news/seal-software-raises-30m-in-growth-capital-and-unveils-global-docusign-partnership/