IP management company CPA Global has been bought by private equity firm Cinven from Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) and its founder shareholders.
The deal is expected to close by the end of March this year.
The original shareholders, some of whom date back to the company’s founding in 1969, included some 320 patent attorneys from more than 20 firms in the UK and Australia.
The parties did not disclose the purchase price, but the Financial Times reported that it was about £950 million ($1.45 billion).
ICG acquired its significant minority stake in CPA for £440 million in 2010.
In the past few years, CPA has expanded into legal services outsourcing and built up its presence in Asia.
CPA Global was featured as a case study in Managing IP’s review of the legal market in Europe published last July.