Massive news in the legal media world.
Two leading London-based legal publishers – Law Business Research and Globe Business Media Group – have merged in a combination backed by the private equity investor, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.
The transformative deal brings together two established legal media groups that between them produce a raft of legal publications, websites, and directories.
According to the announcement, the joint Law Business Research-Globe platform will create one of the largest providers of market-leading, business intelligence to the global legal services market.
A quick roundup of some the brands that will now fall under the same family:
- Getting The Deal Through (Law Business Research)
- Global Arbitration Review (Law Business Research)
- Global Competition Review (Law Business Research)
- Global Investigations Review (Law Business Research)
- Global Restructuring Review (Law Business Research)
- Intellectual Asset Management (Globe)
- International Law Office (Globe)
- Latin Lawyer (Law Business Research)
- LawCareers.Net (Globe)
- Lexology (Globe)
- Who’s Who Legal (Law Business Research)
- World Trademark Review (Globe)
Levin Leichtman, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, only acquired Law Business Research in January 2018 (from another private equity firm, Bowmark Capital), and in less than six months has notched up three major legal publishing acquisitions.
Don’t forget that Levine Leichtman also just bought Best Lawyers in the US last month (a deal that includes the influential Best Law Firms survey run in tandem with US News & World Report), so throw that into the mix and the private equity firm must now rank as a global heavyweight in legal media.
2018 has been comfortably the busiest ever year for legal media deal volume, with other standout deals including Avvo’s acquisition by Internet Brands and the acquisition of Chambers & Partners by Inflexion.
That’s just the first half of 2018. I wonder what the second half will bring?
Kirkland & Ellis advised Law Business Research and Levine Leichtman, while CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang assisted Globe.
[…] by gobbling up Law Business Research, eating up Best Lawyers a few months later, then for pudding bringing in Globe as part of a combination with Law Business […]