Citigroup Pays Up, Big Time, for E-Discovery Software

Apparently, the sub-prime crisis is good news for somebody... Especially if you're a legal discovery software vendor. Autonomy recently scored a $70 million order for "Desktop Legal Hold", one of the products that came into their portfolio with last year's acquisition of e-disvovery specialist Zantaz.

The customer wasn't identified by Autonomy, but insiders say that it's the global bank Citigroup. Autonomy bought Zantaz for $375 million in July, 2007. The company makes products for archiving, compliance and e-discovery. Desktop Legal Hold (DLH) enables customers to quickly identify, set aside and organize documents and emails pertinent to lawsuits. Could it be that Citigroup bought DLH to prep for the onslaught of lawsuits it is facing from investors and others over the sub-prime mortgage lending crisis? Hmmm...