Home / Deals / Advised HighQ, a secure cloud-based platform for business collaboration, workflow automation and client engagement, on its sale to Thomson Reuters

Advised HighQ, a secure cloud-based platform for business collaboration, workflow automation and client engagement, on its sale to Thomson Reuters
Jul 2019
(a portfolio company of OnePeak,
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs)
acquired by
$456 million
  • Sector: Application Software
  • Deal Type: Strategic Deals; Founder-led Businesses; Venture Capital Exits
  • Engagement type: Sellside
  • Size: $456 million
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Arma Partners is pleased to announce that it has acted as exclusive financial advisor to HighQ, a portfolio company of One Peak Partners, Goldman Sachs Private Capital and Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, on its sale to Thomson Reuters (TSX:TRI), one of the world’s leading providers of news and information-based solutions to professionals.

HighQ offers a secure cloud-based platform for business collaboration, workflow automation and client engagement for legal and regulated industries globally. The company currently serves more than 400 customers, including more than half of the Global 100 largest law firms. Additionally, 75% of Fortune 500 companies use the HighQ cloud for internal and external collaboration.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in London, HighQ employs c.350 people across 8 offices worldwide, including the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and India. Over the years, the company has demonstrated industry-leading growth rates and best-in-class SaaS metrics.

This acquisition will expand on Thomson Reuters’ strategic objective to provide more cloud-based software offerings and will meet a growing market need for legal professionals. With an open best-in-class platform at the heart of the legal software ecosystem, HighQ provides Thomson Reuters with an opportunity to leverage their channel reach into thousands of large and medium-sized law firms and corporate legal departments globally.

This transaction underscores Arma Partners’ ability to deliver highly successful outcomes for fast growing SaaS companies and reinforces our long-standing track record of orchestrating high value transatlantic exits to North American strategic buyers.

  • HighQ is a secure, cloud-based platform for business collaboration, workflow automation and client engagement for the legal and regulatory industries
  • Founded in 2001 and headquartered in London, HighQ employs c.350 people across 8 offices worldwide, including the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and India
  • Over the years, the company has demonstrated industry-leading growth rates and best-in-class SaaS metrics, serving more than 400 customers, including more than 50% of the Global 100 largest law firms and c.50% of the AmLaw largest law firms.
  • Additionally, 75% of Fortune 500 companies use the HighQ cloud for internal and external collaboration
  • Thomson Reuters is a leading provider of business information services and operates through five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print
  • Its products include highly specialized information-enabled software and tools for legal, tax, accounting and compliance professionals, all combined with Reuters, the world’s most global news service
  • Founded in 1799 and headquartered in Toronto, it accounts for more than 25,000 employees globally
  • HighQ acquisition follows a period of internal re-organisation within Thomson Reuters and it will position the company as a best-in-class platform at the heart of the legal software ecosystem
  • HighQ acquisition will expand Thomson Reuters’ strategic objective to provide more cloud-based software offerings and will meet a growing market need for legal professionals, aligning with Thomson Reuters focus on legal, tax, compliance and risk
  • The acquisition provides Thomson Reuters with an opportunity to cross sell HighQ platform to thousands of large and medium-sized law firms and corporate legal departments globally, as well as cross sell Thomson Reuters products to existing HighQ customer base
  • It also brings impressive software development talent into the acquiring organization
  • Arma assisted the company with strategic positioning, preparation of marketing materials, financial modelling, diligence support and negotiation of the key transaction terms, all of which was achieved within an accelerate timeframe
  • Arma carefully short-listed and pre-qualified the most credible strategic and PE buyers before launching a process, ensuring that confidentiality was maintained and attention was focused on key  buyers
  • Strong competitive momentum was maintained throughout the process, which resulted in a hugely successful outcome for the shareholders within a short timeframe
  • This transaction underscores Arma Partners’ ability to deliver highly successful outcomes for fast growing SaaS companies and reinforces the long-standing track record of orchestrating high value transatlantic exits to North American strategic buyers
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