Thomson Reuters is set to acquire legal tech startup Casetext in a cash deal worth $650 million. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the second half of 2023, pending regulatory approvals. Thomson Reuters CEO Steve Hasker stated that the purchase of Casetext aligns with their strategy to introduce generative AI solutions to customers and expand market potential. Casetext, founded in 2013, initially focused on creating a community for lawyers and providing free access to legal texts annotated by lawyers. However, the company shifted its focus to AI and ML, developing automated workflows and tools for legal teams. Their flagship product, CoCounsel, utilizes AI for document review, legal research, deposition preparation, and contract analysis. Casetext has a customer base of over 10,000 law firms and corporate legal departments. Thomson Reuters plans to integrate generative AI into its major business verticals, including legal, tax, accounting, and news. The acquisition is part of their long-term strategy, which includes allocating $100 million per year to AI investments and setting aside $10 billion for mergers and acquisitions, many of which are AI-focused.
