Thomson Reuters acquires Pangea3

The $13-billion financial news and business information provider, Thomson Reuters, is gearing up to get a piece of the fast-growing legal process outsourcing market with the acquisition of Pangea3. The LPO industry, a sub sector of the knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) industry, is growing at more than 20 per cent annually and projected to exceed $1 billion this year.

Pangea3 founded in 2004 by David Perla and Sanjay Kamlani with over 200 clients in the US and UK provides services like patent analytics and patent prosecution services, legal research, business and competitive intelligence services, commercial contracting and licensing services, among others.

Unlike its bigger counterpart the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, the KPO industry is still evolving and growing at a faster pace. According to a study by Evalueserve, the KPO industry revenues is estimated to touch $17 billion (around Rs 76,500 crore) by 2013-14. Currently, there are over 5,200 professionals in the LPO industry in India and the Philippines, contributing an annual revenue of approximately $300 million (around Rs 1,350 crore), and this is expected to reach 18,000 professionals with an annual revenue of $960 million (around Rs 4,320 crore) by December 2015.

The acquisition also highlights the increased interest among the private equity players in the sector. In February this year private equity player Actis invested $50 million (around Rs 225 crore) in Integreon — a KPO service firm. One of the largest investments seen so far in this sector in India.