All Access

Enterprise Software Deals

Enterprise Software Deals Alerts

Alert

Fintech Deals

Thomson Reuters, the $80 billion news and data giant, has spent $2.6 billion on AI acquisitions in the last two years, and it is looking to make more and potentially bigger AI buys, CEO Steve Hasker tells Axios.

The big picture: Hasker says the company has some $12 billion to spend on M&A through 2028.

Axios: What kind of AI deals are you looking for?

Hasker: "We're looking at [our core] in the legal profession, the tax accounting audit profession, the risk and compliance profession.

We look for businesses and products that don't bring tech debt. We've done a lot of cleanup over the last number of years — they need to be cloud native. 

A business that was built on the first version of ChatGPT-4 can start to look a little antiquated in an agentic AI environment. These cycles are moving faster than ever. So it's an increasingly important lens for us to apply.

We also need to make sure that the talent is going to hang around."

The valuations out there for many of these startups are in the multibillions. What are you seeing in terms of valuations on targets?

"I do think that some of the valuations in recent times have gotten a little crazy, but it's no different than the internet boom that I worked through."

Do you think that means your acquisition pace could slow?

"We'll wait and see. We have a pretty full pipeline of potential acquisitions at the moment that we're looking at, in various stages of discussions. It's always very hard to tell which of those will go all the way to closure. But certainly, I hope the pace of our dealmaking doesn't slow down."

In that case, most of your recent deals are sub-$1 billion; would you be willing to spend more, in the billions, for some of these players?

"The largest [AI deal] we've done is Pagero, which is an indirect tax e-invoicing business. That was about $800 million. Could we do something a bit bigger? Yes, but I think if anything, the bar goes up to do something a bit larger."

There's quite a few startups going after your space. What's your view of the competitive landscape?

"Clio competes with a business that we divested of, called Elite. Clio has done a really good job of being ERP to the legal system for the smaller law firms. And Elite is ERP to the largest law firms.

Many, many years ago, we acquired that business well before my time, on the basis that the practice of law and the business of law would come together. But they never really have, at least not in the medium to larger firms. And so we sold 80% of it to TPG. That for us was a very clarifying divestiture, because it's led us to really focus in a laser-like manner on the AI applications. 

Harvey on the other hand is a legal assistant that competes with our CoCounsel. The difference between CoCounsel and Harvey is that CoCounsel has access to our unique and proprietary content. We think that that's a pretty significant advantage."

I've heard of some startups that have had access to some GPT models earlier than others. How big of an advantage is that?

"One of the reasons we were interested in Casetext was that they were one of the first users of ChatGPT-4, so we felt that they had a head start on the rest of the marketplace. I think it's a valid point. But now, there are a number of extremely valuable and powerful foundation models. So, I think the access to those models is a little bit more plentiful than perhaps it was back then."

Thomson Reuters CEO talks M&A strategy

It's become one of the most active AI acquirers in recent years.

Steve Hasker, CEO of Thomson Reuters, in a dark suit and white shirt sitting at a white table, looking out a window with brick walls in the background.

Thomson Reuters CEO Steve Hasker. Photo: Richard Lautens/Toronto Star via Getty Images

Thomson Reuters, the $80 billion news and data giant, has spent $2.6 billion on AI acquisitions in the last two years, and it is looking to make more and potentially bigger AI buys, CEO Steve Hasker tells Axios.The big picture: Hasker says the company has some $12 billion to spend on M&amp;A through 2028.

topics

politics-policy

epstein-files

donald-trump

2026-midterm-elections

immigration

behind-the-curtain

race-and-equity

technology

privacy-tech-regulation

automation-and-ai

tiktok-news

big-tech

social-media

cybersecurity

economy

social-security

inflation

tariffs

federal-reserve

jobs

transportation

business

stock-market-news

retail-news

crypto

media

elon-musk

dealmaking

health

rfk-jr

drug-prices

axios-explains-abortion

public-health

world

israel

axios-explains-ukraine

iran

russia

china

energy-climate

nuclear-energy

climate-energy-policy

climate-change

extreme-weather

alternative-energy

electric-vehicles

science

emerging-tech

biomedicine

newsletters

charlotte

boulder

detroit

kansas-city

columbus

austin

dallas

atlanta

washington-dc

nw-arkansas

chicago

indianapolis

nashville

richmond

colorado-springs

houston

san-francisco

seattle

boston

des-moines

salt-lake-city

philadelphia

denver

phoenix

new-orleans

miami

twin-cities

raleigh

san-antonio

portland

san-diego

tampa-bay

cleveland

huntsville

pittsburgh

axios-local

axios-pro

axios-live

the-axios-show

Thomson Reuters CEO talks M&A strategy

What to read next