Law firm MinterEllison acquires Sydney-headquartered IT provider ITNewcom

Sydney-based IT consulting firm ITNewcom has been acquired by Asia-Pacific law firm MinterEllison, in a transaction the agency is calling a "legal first”.

The deal will see ITNewcom complement MinterEllison’s technology legal offering and form a substantial part of the new MinterEllison Technology Consulting practice, which is part of a broader Technology Solutions practice.

MinterEllison chief executive Tony Harrington said the merger would enhance the firm’s ability to offer integrated solutions.

“We believe this transaction is both a game-changing and sector-changing move for a top-tier law firm such as ours. It is a decisive step in the implementation of our firm’s 2020 strategy,” he said.

A new leadership group within the law firm has formed comprising of ITNewcom chief executive Brendan Welsh, MinterEllison technology practice lead Anthony Lloyd, cyber security specialist Paul Kallenbach and strategic procurement and IT project specialist Amanda Story.

Andrew Cunningham, MinterEllison’s innovation leader, will step up as the new leader of the firm’s consulting solutions practice and manage the delivery of a set of solutions that integrate legal and consulting services. He said clients will have access to end-to-end services for technology related transactions and that ITNewcom would be enabled to advance into new areas in tandem with the firm’s growth strategy.

“Joining ITNewcom’s complementary expertise with our existing market-leading technology practice will allow us to deliver seamless integrated consulting and legal solutions to clients seeking sophisticated technology outcomes,” Cunningham said.

“Once we decided to add technology consulting capability to our firm’s offering, ITNewcom was our first choice of partner. We have worked with Brendan and the ITNewcom team many times over the years."

ITNewcom chief executive Brendan Welsh said he was delighted to be joining with the law firm and said the two businesses were closely aligned in their vision to bring value to clients.

“Today, technology really is ‘the new black’. Investment in new technology has always been important for business. These days it is critical for business success. ITNewcom will continue to help organisation optimise their investment in technology  and our new integrated offering will help organisation better manager the risk of those investments,” he said.