Solution 6 has bolstered its burgeoning portfolio of investments with a $40 million acquisition of online legal information provider, Lawpoint, from Telstra.
Currently awaiting shareholder approval, local business software solutions provider Solution 6 expects to pay Telstra $40 million in a combination of cash and shares in return for 60 per cent of Lawpoint.
If successful, Telstra would increase its 16 per cent holding in Solution 6 from 16 per cent to 18 per cent.
Graham Mirabito, general manager for enterprise at Solution 6, said the company's main reason for the proposed acquisition was a "growing convergence" between lawyers and accountants.
He said strategically, Solution 6 "needed to be in the legal space".
"Fifty per cent of Lawpoint's customers are lawyers. Ten per cent are accountants," he said.
The Lawpoint acquisition follows Solution 6's acquisition of accounting software group CMS/Data for $46 million in August, when Solution 6 first sought to expand its reach into the legal software market. Mirabito said Solution 6 would continue to consider acquisition options but would not speculate further.
Although Solution 6 would have a controlling interest, Lawpoint would continue to use it's current name, Mirabito said.
Additionally, he said Solution 6 expected to retain all of Lawpoint's 100 Australian employees.
"Some Lawpoint employees may see themselves re-emerging as Solution 6 employees," he said.