US e-discovery specialist Lineal has agreed to acquire Swiss digital forensics consultancy Forentec.
Lineal said the acquisition reflected the increasingly interconnected nature of e-discovery, digital forensics, cybersecurity and investigations, while also expanding its European footprint.
Founded in 2015 and headquartered near Zurich, Forentec provides cyber security, open-source intelligence (OSINT) and digital forensics services to law firms, corporations, banks, insurers and public authorities.
Lineal CEO Major Baisden said Forentec’s team had “deep expertise in areas that are increasingly connected to the problems our clients are already asking us to solve”.
He added: “Digital investigations do not fit neatly into one category. E-discovery, forensics, cyber security and intelligence increasingly intersect, and adding Forentec expands our global discovery and investigations offering.”
Forentec managing partner Lionel Bloch, who is joining Lineal alongside his team, said the deal would give Forentec’s clients “access to a much broader global organisation, additional technology, and expanded e-discovery and review capabilities”.
He added: “It also creates an opportunity to bring the expertise our team has developed in Switzerland to clients well beyond our home market.”
Lineal, which is based in Kansas City, Missouri, has also strengthened its European team with the appointment of David Kern as general manager for the region.
He joins after almost 16 years at Swiss investment bank UBS in Zurich, where he spent the last eight-and-a-half years as an executive director and global head of processing and review management for e-discovery.
The deal comes a year after Lineal acquired US e-discovery and computer forensics provider ProFile Discovery, adding trial support services in Indiana and operations in Ohio.
It is the latest of a wave of M&A activity in the legaltech sector, including in the field of e-discovery and disputes.
Earlier this month, UK case management specialist Opus 2 agreed to acquire Irish electronic document bundling provider Bundledocs, in a move it said would strengthen its ability to support law firms throughout the dispute lifecycle, including those advising on cross-border disputes.
In September, US e-discovery and legal data services company Repario acquired US alternative legal services provider UnitedLex, combining their e-discovery, managed review, litigation, legal operations and AI advisory capabilities.
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