On Tuesday, professional and legal services company Harbor announced that it has acquired U.K.- based legal technology services provider Ascertus, which helps clients implement document and content management solutions such as iManage.
Harbor CEO Matt Sunderman told Legaltech News that the acquisition was motivated in large part by Harbor’s desire to expand its global footprint. He explained that the company wants “to be able to provide global services to anything that we do. And a lot of what we were doing, pre-Ascertus, wasn’t necessarily fulfilling that for our clients.”
He added, “So two examples of that would have been our work in document management or content management and collaboration, was predominantly a North American business for us, also our corporate legal focus. … Ascertus expands our document management and content management collaboration truly to be a global practice. And also the client base that they served was equal parts law firms and large corporations, so it allows us to extend our corporate business from North America to the U.K. and other parts of [Asia-Pacific].”
Sunderman noted that, as part of the acquisition, the entire Ascertus team will move over to Harbor. However, Ascertus founder CEO Roy Russell will become a senior adviser to Harbor during the transition “and will continue in that capacity at a minimum through the first part of 2025.”
In addition, Sunderman noted that Ascertus COO Damian Jeal will “lead our global content management collaboration practice, so predominantly focused on customer satisfaction, customer service and delivery but also partnering very closely with go-to-market. … His remit will expand in terms of global [footprint]; however, his focus will be predominantly on delivery.
According to a press release, with the acquisition, Harbor now has over 800 global employees, including more than 180 in the U.K.
Harbor was formed in August 2023 through the merger of HBR Consulting, intelligence provider LAC Group and legal technology and data consultancy company Wilson Allen. Harbor also includes Younts Consulting, which HBR acquired in February 2023 and Aurora North, which Wilson Allen purchased in January 2023.
In addition, Harbor brought in Keesal Propulsion Labs (KP Labs), a legal tech company launched by California law firm Keesal, Young & Logan in 2018. KP Labs was acquired by private equity firm Renovus Capital Partners, an investor in all three main companies that merged to form Harbor, in 2023. Harbor announced that it fully integrated KP Labs in January 2024, launching it as Harbor Labs.
The acquisition of Ascertus is Harbor’s third M&A deal since its inception. A few weeks after it was formed, the company announced it acquired legal management consulting practice of advisory and consulting firm Stout. A few months later, in February 2024, it also disclosed that it acquired legal technology services provider Pinnacle, expanding its footprint in the U.K. and Europe.
Sunderman noted that, while Ascertus is Harbor’s third acquisition since its formation, it is “the ninth organization that has a heritage brand focused on legal that is part of Harbor. We’re operating as one company.”
It’s likely other companies will soon be absorbed by Harbor. “We think there’s still a 20% to 25% growth path over the next two to four years beyond 2024 and we anticipate it being both organic and then acquisitions, in part because we’re getting approached by a lot of organizations that see what Harbor has built and are excited about potentially joining,” Sunderman said.
