EY expands legal services with Pangea3 deal
EY has struck a deal with Thomson Reuters to purchase its Pangea3 business. The acquisition will significantly strengthen EY’s global legal offering, with the Big Four currently making major headway in the sector.
The Big Four of the professional services world has set about parking tanks on the lawn of the lucrative legal services market in earnest in 2019. By doing so, the gang of four hope to open up access to a $30 billion windfall for themselves, and the quartet already boast larger headcounts than many traditional law firms, while offering a more holistic, end-to-end service.
As consulting firm forays into the advertising world have similarly shown – an enlarged workforce is one major route to winning over new clients. KPMG is rapidly developing its offering in the sector, moving to launch its UK legal presence in 2019. Meanwhile, PwC boasts a global total of 3,500 lawyers, and Deloitte has around 2,000.
EY has also been working diligently to expand its legal offering, recently striking a deal to purchase Riverview Law. The acquisition was intended to assist and scale the EY Law legal managed services offering, while helping EY clients to increase efficiency, manage risk, improve service transparency and reduce the costs of routine legal activities. Now, amid booming demand from multinational organisations for legal services, EY has announced an agreement for the acquisition of Pangea3 Legal Managed Services from Thomson Reuters.
Pangea3 offers global legal managed services, with more than 1,000 legal professionals across eight service delivery locations on three continents. The firm leverages legal, technical and business-process talent in quality, cost-effective centers, working to assist clients in mitigating legal risks, reducing burdensome costs and providing continuity and scale to budget-strapped legal teams.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019, subject to the satisfaction of various closing conditions, at which point it will bolster the ability for the practices of EY Law to help clients transform their operations and deliver meaningful value to their businesses. The move strengthens EY Law in three core areas: lifecycle management; regulatory risk and compliance; and investigations and litigation. It also offers a welcome boost to the headcount of EY’s legal wing, which comprises more than 2,400 lawyers in 84 countries.
Commenting on the move, out-going EY Global Chair and CEO Mark Weinberger said, “This new enhanced offering will make EY one of the leading professional services organizations for global legal advisory services and legal operations services, including legal function advisory, managed services and technology. The acquisition is an example of how EY is working to provide clients with holistic solutions, which are enabled by technology.”
Kate Barton, EY Global Vice Chair – Tax, added, “The EY Law practices will connect the practice of law with the business of law globally. Legal departments recognize that the future lies in aligning more closely with broader business transformation and we are uniquely positioned to offer a globally consistent, leading approach across the enterprise.”
