Canadian Clio buys Spanish VLex with a $1,000M valuation and pays in shares and cash

• Oakley, who owned 75% of the Spanish company, valued its shares at cost, which was 77 million euros, as reflected in documentation consulted by Ecotechers.

• The operation, which was announced this morning by Expansión, represents one of the biggest 'exits' for Spanish technology companies.

• Oakley assures its investors that they, along with the Fau brothers (creators of the company), are reinvesting, although the specific percentage is not specified.

• The commitment to AI was fundamental for the company's strong growth in the last three years, which has closed multi-million dollar contracts with some of the main legal firms in the United States.

• The Spanish company has carried out several acquisitions of companies that have allowed it to generate an important database with AI technology (Vincent) that has been key to this transaction.

• Clio is a legaltech based in Canada that was valued at $3,000M in the last funding round exactly one year ago, with which it raised $900M. It was led by NEA but with the participation of Goldman Sachs or Sixth Street Growth.

• “We have a vision of a future where legal professionals go beyond traditional research and operational silos, leveraging deeper intelligence and wider impact; this marks the beginning of a transformative era in the legal sector, unprecedented,” notes Lluis Faus, CEO.

• Harvey, the American legaltech, tried to acquire the company last year. It was going to incorporate the acquisition as part of a $600M round. However, the reality is that the round had to be significantly reduced to $100M. Finally, last week it announced another $300M with Kleiner Perkins and Coatue.