Thomson Reuters today announced it has acquired UAE Legislation Online from Affinitext and law firm DLA Piper and made a key appointment in the Middle East.
UAE Legislation Online, which won the prestigious Legal Technology Awards in 2009 as well as being a finalist in the 2009 FT Innovative Lawyers Awards, is a leading online information and research service providing the most comprehensive and reliable integrated online collection of United Arab Emirates laws in Arabic & English.
DLA Piper, one of the world's leading law firms, and Affinitext, developed the award-winning service, powered by the Affinitext online intelligent document solution.
UAE Legislation Online is now used daily by leading law firms, corporations, government agencies and researchers throughout the Middle East.
DLA Piper's Dubai Office Managing Partner, Jim Delkousis, who was responsible for developing UAE Legislation Online with Affinitext, commented "It is pleasing to see the success of our efforts to increase transparency and access to the laws in the UAE, which will now be advanced even further by Thomson Reuters". Graham Thomson, co-founder of Affinitext said, "This is a great on-going opportunity for Thomson Reuters, and the transaction assists Affinitext in expanding its business of reducing costs and risks for major projects and transactions worldwide through its intelligent document solution."
The acquisition is a valuable addition to Thomson Reuters legal services in the Gulf region, where the Islamic Finance service on Westlaw Business is already prominent.
On top of the acquisition, Thomson Reuters Legal has appointed Sameeh El-Din as Vice President and General Manager of the Middle East Business.
Mr El-Din has been with Thomson Reuters since 1987 in a number of senior roles, most recently as Global Business Development Director, Global Head of Equities and Managing Director, Germany, Austria and Nordic countries. Sameeh is a fluent Arabic, German and English speaker.
PeterLake, Senior Vice President Thomson Reuters Legal CEMEA commented: "Sameeh brings a wealth of experience to his new role and will oversee our business development in the Middle East as Thomson Reuters Legal establishes itself in the region. The recent strategic acquisition along with the considerable resources of Westlaw Business and Islamic Finance will help Thomson Reuters establish itself in this key emerging market."
