iCONECT, the eDiscovery company, has bought the ‘gold copy’ of doc analysis pioneer Ayfie’s Inspector product. This includes ‘all subcomponents and patent licences in perpetuity for an undisclosed sum’. Buying just a single product off another legal tech company like this is relatively rare.
Ayfie is also unusual, as it was one of the first legal tech companies in recent years to enter the public markets and is listed in Norway. It has also had quite a lot of changes, with closing offices and seeing its management rejigged several times.
However, the company will continue to operate despite the sale of Ayfie Inspector.
Inspector is used to identify entities and patterns in documents and data. The iCONECT platform has used the software for about three years.
Since the Ayfie Inspector code is already embedded within the iCONECT v10 product, unlike other AI acquisitions in the eDiscovery marketplace, there will be no delay in releasing this integration to the market, they added.
‘Direct access to the source code enhances our ability to create innovative synergies which include artificial intelligence assisting companies to incorporate AI as a standard component of their eDiscovery workflow,’ said Ian Campbell, CEO of iCONECT. ‘At iCONECT we are always focused on looking over the horizon and this transaction is definitely a game-changer for the industry.’
‘As a publicly traded entity on the Euronext Growth Oslo, this divestiture of the Inspector business stream allows us to focus business technology resources on our Locator platform, specifically opportunities in the European market,’ said Lasse Ruud, CMO/ IRO of Ayfie Group AS. ‘iCONECT is the perfect company to take the Inspector platform for the next level and we look forward to seeing where it goes from here.’
More tomorrow on this unusual deal.
[Update Note: as mentioned in the text, this is the sale of Inspector, not Locator as first mentioned in the headline – that’s the problem with bashing out late breaking news. ]