Pan-European private equity investor Oakley Capital’s Oakley Capital Origin Fund (Origin) is to sell legaltech platform vLex to Clio, a global specialist in legal technology headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, in a deal that values the business at $1bn.
As part of the transaction, which makes vLex one of the few Spanish tech startups to achieve unicorn status, Origin is partially reinvesting in the combined business alongside vLex’s founders.
Oakley first invested in vLex in September 2022 in order to support the development of its AI capabilities and accelerate the internationalisation of the business. Oakley worked with the company’s founders LluÃs and Angel Faus to expand in the US through the strategic acquisition of Fastcase, which helped double vLex’s revenues. In 2024 vLex launched Vincent, the company’s AI-powered legal workflow platform.
vLex’s business has now transformed from a research database business into a powerful software platform, with legal workflows backed by proprietary datasets. Today, the company serves the majority of the Am Law 100, a ranking of the largest law firms in America.
Clio is a provider of legal technology, serving law firms of all sizes across the globe. The firm’s platform, which includes solutions for client intake, case management, billing, payments, e-filing, and AI-powered productivity, is used by over 200,000 legal professionals in more than 130 countries.
According to a press statement, the combination of the two businesses brings together Clio and vLex’s respective strengths in the business and practice of law to deliver an “integrated platform for legal customers, with significant cross and up-selling opportunities as law firms accelerate their adoption of digital solutions”.
