Questel to acquire PAVIS and Novagraaf

Paris, March 8, 2021 – Global IP solutions provider Questel announced today that it has agreed to acquire NovumIP, a group comprised of PAVIS and Novagraaf. The private equity firm that launched NovumIP, Paragon Partners, will become an investor in Questel, as a mark of its confidence in the market potential of Questel with its new additions.

The parties anticipate that the closing will take place on or around July 2021, subject to definitive approval from the relevant financial supervisory and competition authorities.

PAVIS and Novagraaf joined forces in 2019 to provide clients with a wider range of IP advisory, administration and technology-led services. The collaboration was sparked by recognition of the importance placed by IP owners and their advisers on having access to a single, go-to resource for all their IP needs, including both commercially-focused legal & consulting and tech-enabled IP services.

This approach complements Questel’s own vision for the IP sector. The global IP solutions provider has built a truly end-to-end integrated platform of software and services addressing corporate and law firm needs across the complete IP lifecycle.

Moving forward, the companies’ shared vision is to further integrate knowledge and technology in order to offer clients a new way of managing their IP through tech-enabled delivery of services.

“Through the acquisitions of Brandstock and RenewalsDesk, in 2019 and 2020 respectively, Questel successfully expanded its operations into the areas of trademark management and patent annuities. These new acquisitions aim to accelerate this strategy by relying on Questel’s IT DNA,” said Charles Besson, CEO at Questel.

“More than 1,400 clients already enjoy and value our premium annuity service. With Questel’s international footprint and client-base, we can now offer our services to the global IP community at one fell swoop. Especially those Questel clients which already use their Intellectual Asset Management platform will greatly benefit from the reliability and efficiency of an integrated annuity service.” said Thomas Gruber, CEO at PAVIS.

“Questel has demonstrated its unique capabilities to integrate IP services via investment in software and data, making it the ideal partner with which to consolidate our IP management offerings,” said Lutgarde Liezenberg, CEO at Novagraaf. “We’re excited to be able to move forward together, and to build on our longstanding and unparalleled heritage in the fields of IP legal & consulting and global administrative services for the benefit of all our clients.”

Supported by Eurazeo, IK Investment Partners and Raise, the acquisition marks another important step for Questel, which now serves more than 15,000 clients and has more than 1,200 employees around the world. During the past years, Questel has demonstrated a successful M&A integration track record, relying on its corporate culture, purpose-driven strategy, and a strong engagement on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues.

Questel’s mission is to facilitate the development of innovation in an efficient, secure, and sustainable way. Questel is a true end-to-end intellectual property solutions provider to more than 15,000 clients and one million users across 30 countries. We offer a comprehensive software suite for searching, analyzing, and managing inventions and IP assets. Questel also provides services throughout the IP lifecycle, including prior art searches, patent drafting, international filing, translation, and renewals. These solutions, when combined with our IP cost management platform, deliver clients an average savings of 30-60% across the entire prosecution budget.

PAVIS is a leading provider of IP management services worldwide. For more than 40 years PAVIS has been a valuable partner for law firms and corporate IP departments with large IP portfolios. Innovative technical solutions, well-established procedures and a high degree of automation have made PAVIS into one of the most efficient and reliable IP management service providers. PAVIS has a focus on patent annuity payments and trademark renewals. Its subsidiary PAVIS Payments is officially approved as a regulated payment service provider in accordance with the Payment Services Supervision Act. As a result, PAVIS is able to provide all services in full compliance with statutory requirements.

For more than 130 years, Novagraaf has been helping iconic brands and innovative organisations around the world drive competitive advantage. One of Europe’s leading IP consulting groups, Novagraaf specialises in the protection and global management of IP rights, including trademarks, patents, designs, domain names and copyright. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Novagraaf has 18 offices worldwide, and acquired Thomsen Trampedach in 2020. The firm is unique in its ability to provide clients with tailored legal expertise, efficiency-gaining administrative services, and proactive commercial insights.