HaystackID, a company that provides e-discovery and forensic services and technology to corporations and law firms, and NightOwl Global, a company that provides enterprise data services for corporate legal departments, said today that they are combining as part of a merger facilitated by majority investor Quad-C Management Inc., a middle-market private equity firm.

The combined companies will operate under the HaystackID brand. Hal Brooks, HaystackID’s CEO, will remain in that role. NightOwl’s CEO Andrea Wallack will be a board member, equity investor, and president at HaystackID. NightOwl’s other senior leadership will also become active shareholders in the combined company,

A statement released by the companies said that the merger “propels the combined company into the top tier of worldwide data and legal discovery service companies and positions it for continued record growth to meet customer needs regardless of complexity, location, or language.”

The merger is HaystackID’s fourth major investment event in two years. In April 2018, HaystackID acquired Envision Discovery, an e-discovery managed services provider, and Inspired Review, a managed review and remote review services provider. In January 2019, it acquired eTERA Consulting, an e-discovery managed services provider.

Additionally, in February 2020, HaystackID completed a strategic recapitalization with Quad-C to support its continued growth and expansion.

“The combination of NightOwl Global and HaystackID creates immediate and accessible value for our customers by providing the most effective and responsive cybersecurity and legal discovery services available as they face increasingly complex security, investigation, and litigation challenges,” CEO Brooks said in a statement.

HaystackID is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has its operations center in Boston, Mass. NightOwl was headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. The combined company will now have 14 U.S. offices, six international offices (London, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Munich, Paris and Shanghai), and eight data centers worldwide.

All services and support provided by pre-merger HaystackID and NightOwl Global will continue to be supported post-merger, the company said, while also providing customers an expanded portfolio of offerings to support cybersecurity, consulting, and e-discovery service needs. All current contracts and pricing agreements will also remain in effect.

For more details on the merger, see this PDF.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.