WSJ: Microsoft has signed letter of intent to acquire Israeli text analysis firm Equivio

According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, US software giant Microsoft has signed a letter of intent to purchase Israeli text analysis firm Equivio.

Citing an unidentified source 'in the know' of the matter, the WSJ report has revealed that Microsoft will probably be acquiring Equivio for $200 million. However, the acquisition deal has not yet been finalized by the two companies.

Text analysis software developer Equivio is based in Rosh Ha'Ayin, some 26 kilometres east of Tel Aviv. Equivio was founded by Amir Milo who is the CEO of the company; and its co-founders also included VP Engineering Yiftach Ravid and VP Marketing and Business Development Warwick Sharp. The company's clients include the US Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, KPMG and Deloitte.

The text analysis software developed by Equivio can, with the help of machine learning algorithms, group together relevant texts from massive amounts of documents, including emails as well as other organizational social and collaboration networks.

The list of the users of Equivio's text analysis software clearly indicates that the company's technology is currently being used by organizations that provide litigation support services to law firms and corporate legal departments trying to dig out relevant data - like legal contracts - from large amounts of documents.