Harris Williams, a global investment bank specialising in M&A advisory services, is advising Capita plc (Capita), a consulting, transformation and digital services business, on the pending sale of Eclipse Legal Systems (Eclipse) to The Access Group (Access). Eclipse is a leading mid-market case, matter and practice management software provider operating primarily in the UK legal market. The transaction is being led by Thierry Monjauze, Mathew Tsui and John Levy of the firm’s London office.
“This transaction highlights our consistent track record in delivering successful outcomes for our clients in vertical software and demonstrates our ability to unlock significant value through the divestment of non-core assets,” says Monjauze, a managing director at Harris Williams. “We believe Eclipse is ideally suited for success in its new partnership with Access, a company with an impressive history of acquiring and effectively integrating companies into its platform.
“The successful sale of Eclipse is evidence of our ability to continue to achieve optimal outcomes for clients, despite today’s uncertain global M&A market. We look forward to seeing what the two companies accomplish together as Access builds out a new legal software division with Eclipse at its core.”
Capita is a consulting, digital services and software business. Every day 61,000 colleagues help millions of people, by delivering innovative solutions to transform and simplify the connections between businesses and customers, governments and citizens. Capita partners with clients and provides the insight and cutting-edge technologies that give time back, allowing them to focus on what they do best and making people’s lives easier and simpler. Capita operates in the UK, Europe, India and South Africa – and across six divisions: customer management; government services; people solutions; software; specialist services; and technology solutions. The company is quoted on the London Stock Exchange (CPI.L).
Eclipse is a leading mid-market case, matter and practice management software provider operating primarily in the UK legal market. Eclipse’s core product, Proclaim, is in use by over 25,000 professionals in a vast range of sectors. Clients range from household-name commercial organisations and heavyweight law firms, through to niche market operators and sole practitioners.
Access has been recognised in The Sunday Times Tech Track 100 in 2019 and is a leading provider of business software to mid-sized UK organisations. It helps more than 35,000 customers across commercial and not-for-profit sectors become more productive and efficient. Its innovative Access Workspace cloud platform transforms the way business software is used, giving every employee the freedom to do more. Founded in 1989, Access employs more than 2,600 staff.
Harris Williams, an investment bank specialising 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).
