Mergers and Acquisitions
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On Monday, e-discovery, information governance and digital forensics provider KLDiscovery announced it acquired e-discovery providers Strategic Legal Solutions and Compiled in a bid to enhance its offerings.

In a press release, KLDiscovery said the recent acquisitions displays the company's commitment to identifying and acquiring “entrepreneur-led acquisition targets that enhance its global footprint, technology capabilities and client base.”

The company noted the addition of Strategic Legal Solutions' managed document review facility in Detroit will bring KLDiscovery to 13 locations in six countries. But it was Compiled that received direct praise for its ReadySuite product's tech abilities: KLDiscovery touted ReadySuite as the software that, when intertwined with KLDiscovery's e-discovery platform Nebula, will offer “additional flexibility” for addressing data management needs.

ReadySuite provides Relativity integration, document and volume viewers, image processing and “burn-in” document redactions as well as other e-discovery features. According to the press release provided by KLDiscovery, ReadySuite is used primarily by law firms, service providers, consultants and in-house corporate clients.

While ReadySuite will remain as a standalone product, the fate of the Strategic Legal Solutions' brand and e-discovery offerings, which include legal hold and collection, early case assessment and data processing and production, is unclear. Strategic Legal Solutions did not respond to a press inquiry by press time. A request for comment from Compiled was referred to KLDiscovery who declined to comment.

To be sure, rebranding isn't a new concept for KLDiscovery. Originally, the company operated as KrolLDiscovery after the 2016 merger of LDiscovery and Kroll Ontrack. By January 2018, the company decided to drop the “Kroll” name altogether. Later in 2018, KLDiscovery announced it received a “significant” investment from WestView Capital Partners, The Carlyle Group and Revolution Growth, according to a press release.

KLDiscovery also hinted that more M&A activity may be on the horizon. In the press release announcing the acquisitions, investment vehicle Pivotal CEO Jonathan Ledecky said, “We look forward to building on this momentum and continuing to execute on KLD's M&A strategy.”

To be sure, KLDiscovery's acquisitions are far from the only ones redefining the industry. Just this summer, a handful of other e-discovery companies have also acquired their counterparts in a bid to enhance their technology or footprint in the market. Earlier this month, Xact Data Discovery acquired QDiscovery in a move to strengthen Xact's presence in the Midwest. Similarly, only a mere two months after being sold, e-discovery company Litera absorbed document manager Workshare in early July.