The Thomson Corporation Toronto announced that it has acquired Global Securities Information, Inc. (GSI), a provider of online securities and securities-related information and research services. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
GSI helps legal and financial firms fulfill research requirements with its flagship product, LIVEDGAR. This product combines proprietary content, search technology and domain expertise to enable legal and financial professionals to conduct online securities research and obtain source documents in a single step. GSI clients include all of the AmLaw 100; 80 percent of the top investment banking firms; and all of the top U.S. accounting firms. GSI also includes 100 of the Fortune 500 companies as customers.
GSI will become part of Thomson West, the provider of legal research information in the U.S. and publisher of the Westlaw online service. GSI operations and senior management, including President Richard Harrison, Chief Executive Officer Phillip Brown and Chief Technology Officer Nick Keenan, will join Thomson West. GSI has 147 employees and is based in Washington, D.C.
The acquisition will enable West to satisfy the currently unmet needs of transactional attorneys – those involved in work such as mergers and acquisitions, real estate and securities transactions. Moreover, the acquisition will further strengthen and deepen West’s relationships with large law firms, the company’s largest customer segment.