Symantec Nabs eDisovery and Backup Provider Clearwell Systems for $390 Million

Symantec today announced it would acquire privately-held Clearwell Systems, a provider of eDiscovery, archiving and backup solutions for $390 Million in cash.

This is the second major move in the archiving and eDiscovery sector this week. On Monday, Autonomy Corporation, announced that it was acquiring certain assets from Iron Mountain’s digital division including archiving, eDiscovery, and online backup for $380 million in cash after Iron Mountain decided it wanted to exit that line of business.

Clearwell’s eDiscovery solution will complement and enhance Symantec’s Enterprise Vault eDiscovery capabilities to create a more robust eDiscovery solution.

According to Gartner, the eDiscovery software market is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 14 percent and is estimated to reach $1.7 billion by 2014. Symantec also sees the acquisition as an opportunity to cross-sell and integrate Symantec backup and security, by leveraging Symantec NetBackup, Data Loss Prevention and Data Insight.

“Archiving and eDiscovery are two critical elements of information governance,” said Aaref Hilaly, president and chief executive officer, Clearwell Systems. “By joining forces and combining the industry’s leading archiving solution with the industry’s leading eDiscovery solution, we will be uniquely positioned to deliver a seamless, integrated information governance workflow, benefitting both Symantec and Clearwell customers.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Symantec will acquire Clearwell for a purchase price of approximately $390 million, net of Clearwell’s existing cash balance of approximately $20 million. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval, and is expected to close in the September quarter. More details on the transaction and integration are available here: http://www.symantec.com/Clearwell