Ernst & Young has closed on the acquisition of Thomson Reuters’ Pangea3 Legal Managed Services business, expanding the Big Four firm’s legal consulting practice.
The Pangea3 acquisition, along with another recent acquisition, of Riverview Law, gives EY a number of legal service offerings. They include legal function consulting, legal management services, legal technology, plus legal advisory services where permitted, in more than 80 jurisdictions. EY lawyers don't provide U.S. legal services.
EY and Thomson Reuters originally announced the deal in April and it closed this week. With Pangea3, more than 1,100 legal project managers, services professionals and technologists are joining EY, bringing the total number of EY Law professionals around the world to 3,500. The acquisition will enhance EY’s technology-enabled legal management service in the areas of contract life cycle management, regulatory risk and compliance, and investigations.
“Companies are looking to transform their legal departments,” said Kate Barton, EY Global's vice chair of tax, in a statement. “Cutting-edge technology, processes and the right people that can integrate legal functions into the business more holistically are key to this transformation. This acquisition deepens the EY bench of skilled resources to help companies modernize their law departments and arrive at the optimal operating model.”
Pangea3 has grown for over 15 years within Thomas Reuters and now operates out of eight centers worldwide, offering multilingual technology. The acquisition will help EY offer legal process automation and services around the world to help clients transform their legal departments. EY ranked No. 3 on Accounting Today’s 2019 list of the Top 100 Firms, with $14 billion in annual revenue in the U.S. Globally, it reported $34.8 billion in annual revenue.
“In addition to reducing costs and driving efficiencies, legal departments recognize that the future lies in aligning closely with broader business transformation,” said EY Global Law co-leader Jeff Banta in a statement. “Through the acquisition of Pangea3, EY Law services are well positioned to leverage a broad professional services experience to create a consistent, market-leading offering across the globe that will shape the legal functions of the future.”
