Allen & Overy divests majority stake in aosphere to two PE fund partners

Allen & Overy (A&O) has sold a majority stake in its legal and compliance subscription business asophere, bringing in private equity funds Inflexion and Endicott Capital. As part of the deal, aosphere will become a standalone entity.

aosphere, which launched in 2002 headed by CEO Marc-Henri Chamay, serves around 725 blue-chip clients including banks, asset managers and corporates. It provides online legal analysis on a subscription basis across a range of compliance topics in areas such as financial derivatives, shareholder disclosure requirements, cross-border marketing, and data privacy.

The intention is that the partnership will see aosphere scaled up, creating a global regulatory data business across a range of cross-jurisdictional topics. In particular, aosphere is looking to grow the business in the US and where appropriate through acquisition.

Chamay said: “This partnership creates a significant opportunity for us to accelerate our growth. Inflexion shares our vision of providing clients with the most comprehensive, reliable, and user-friendly legal and regulatory information and services. By combining our strengths and capabilities, we will be able to offer our clients more choice, more value, and more impact. We are excited to embark on this journey with Inflexion, Endicott and A&O.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.