Epiq Systems to be Acquired in Buyout Valued at $1 Billion

In what has been described as the largest deal this year in the e-discovery service space, Epiq Systems has agreed to a stock purchase buyout valued at $1 billion.

Based in Kansas City and listed on the NASDAQ, Epiq is a provider of integrated technology and services for the legal profession, including e-discovery, managed services, bankruptcy, class action and mass tort administration, federal regulatory actions and data breach responses, with solutions to help streamline the administration of litigation, investigations, financial transactions, regulatory compliance, and other legal matters.

In a definitive agreement, Epiq has agreed to be acquired by OMERS Private Equity, the private equity arm of the OMERS pension plan, and funds managed by Harvest Partners, LP, a middle-market private equity fund.

The proposed transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016, subject to closing conditions including receipt of shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Upon completion of the transaction, Epiq will become a privately-held company and will be combined with DTI, a legal process outsourcing company majority-owned by OMERS and managed by OMERS Private Equity.

The combination brings together two complementary legal services and technology companies with global reach and deep expertise, said Brad D. Scott, president and COO of Epiq, in a statement released by the company.  With the support of Omers Private Equity and Harvest Partners, he added, Epiq will have the opportunity to leverage each company’s strengths to create a combined entity well positioned to help clients with complex and outsourced legal matters.

Benefits to clients, partners, and employees, the companies say, will include a broadened range of service solutions and products, expanded geographic footprint, a deeper bench of expertise, strengthened data security protocols, a commitment to client service, and increased opportunities for employees.

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