Harris Williams Advises Opus 2 on its Pending Sale to Astorg Partners

Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces it is advising Opus 2, a portfolio company of Five Arrows Principal Investments (FAPI), on its pending acquisition by Astorg Partners (Astorg). Opus 2 is a leading provider of integrated software and services for the global legal disputes market. The transaction is being led by Thierry Monjauze, Julien Oussadon and Mathew Tsui of the Harris Williams Technology Group and John Levy of the firm’s London office.

“Under Opus 2 Founder Graham Smith-Bernal’s leadership and with FAPI’s support and partnership, Opus 2 has solidified its position as a trusted partner to its clients in the legal community across the globe,” said Thierry Monjauze, a managing director at Harris Williams. “It was a pleasure advising Opus 2 and the shareholders on this transaction, representing our third legal software transaction in the past nine months and our 10th technology transaction announced in 2021. We look forward to watching the company’s next chapter as they continue to expand in the U.K. and internationally across litigation, arbitration and other legal practice areas.”

“Opus 2 has been at the forefront of technological innovation across the legal sector and we continue to see phenomenal interest in the space. With a clearly differentiated software and services offering, combined with a leading market position and management team, Opus 2 has an exciting path ahead of them for their next stage of growth,” added Julien Oussadon, a managing director at Harris Williams.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in London, Opus 2 is a leading provider of integrated software and services used in legal disputes around the world. Opus 2’s cloud-based collaboration software is designed for case preparation and multi-party hearings enabling all stakeholders to work on a single platform. Opus 2 provides associated technology-enabled services including court reporting and real-time transcription, as well as virtual hearing services. The business has a blue-chip, global client base, including all of the top 50 U.K. law firms and 88% of the AmLaw 50 firms in the U.S. Opus 2 is the U.K. market leader and has started expanding rapidly at an international level in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region; North America; and Asia Pacific.

FAPI is the European private equity arm of Rothschild & Co’s Merchant Banking business. Merchant Banking manages over €15 billion globally which includes approximately €3.8 billion dedicated to corporate private equity, as well as a series of funds dedicated to senior and junior credits, primary and secondary fund investing, and co-investments, with offices in Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles and Luxembourg. FAPI is focused on investing in middle market companies with highly defensible market positions; strong management teams; business models with high visibility of organic unit volume growth and strong free cash flow conversion; and multiple operational levers that can be used to unlock latent value. Sectors are limited to data and software, technology-enabled business services and healthcare.

Astorg is a leading independent private equity firm with over €10 billion of assets under management. The company works with entrepreneurs and management teams to acquire market-leading global companies headquartered in Europe or the U.S., providing them with the strategic guidance, governance and capital they need to achieve their growth goals. Astorg enjoys a distinct entrepreneurial culture, a long-term shareholder perspective, and a lean decision-making body. Astorg has valuable industry expertise in healthcare, software, business-to-business professional services and technology-based industrial companies. Astorg has offices in London; Paris; New York; Frankfurt, Germany; Milan; and Luxembourg.

Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across industry groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC).

The Harris Williams Technology Group advises leading private and public companies, founders, and private equity, growth equity and venture capital firms on mergers and acquisitions and capital-raising transactions worldwide. The Technology Group has deep domain expertise in software and technology-enabled services and dedicated focus areas across a variety of vertical software applications and end markets. For more information on the Technology Group and its recent transactions, visit the Technology Group’s section of the Harris Williams website.

Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 8th Floor, 20 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: hwgermany@harriswilliams.com). Geschäftsführer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. DE321666994). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams & Co. Ltd and Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business.