In the first legal tech M&A deal of 2025, Elite, the financial management solution that was previously wholly owned by Thomson Reuters, has bought Tranch, a B2B invoice automation and payments platform for lawyers.
TR sold a majority stake in Elite back in 2023 to the TPG private equity group.
Elite said of the new deal: ‘With the acquisition of Tranch, Elite will expand its SaaS portfolio, advancing its long-term growth strategy to drive digital transformation for leading law firms worldwide.’
Tranch’s electronic payment offerings include:
- “Pay Now” via a bank transfer managed through FedNow and the Real-Time Payment Network;
- “Pay by Card,” including virtual card terminals for billing teams;
- and “Pay Later,” which allows law firm clients to spread out their payments over time, providing greater flexibility to clients and Day 1 cashflow to law firms.
Through its next-generation platform, Tranch provides a frictionless invoice-to-payments experience that allows law firms to reduce their cash collection cycle and handle more work without proportional staff increases to its finance teams, enhancing profitability, they said.
Mark Dorman, CEO of Elite, said: ‘Tranch is an innovative leader that is revolutionizing payment processes for law firms, and we look forward to welcoming Philip, Beau and the entire Tranch team to Elite. By embedding Tranch’s products within our portfolio of SaaS solutions, we will offer our customers greater choice and flexibility in managing their work-to-cash process, which will help law firms reduce payment delays, increase cashflows and, ultimately, boost profitability.’
Philip Kelvin, CEO of Tranch added: ‘Investments in technology and innovation by law firms have lagged historically in the area of financial operations, and our data reveals there are still significant inefficiencies that have not yet been solved from when an invoice is issued to payment, leaving a large opportunity for improvement across firms of all sizes.
‘In 2024, Tranch more than tripled its payment volume with many of the largest global law firms, including Elite customers, to help facilitate easier and faster payments through automation and innovation. We are excited to join Elite as we scale our capabilities further and continue our rapid, product-led innovation.’
So, there you go. The legal tech market is already off to a busy start.