Squire Patton Boggs has advised Appen Limited (Appen) ASX: APX in relation to debt financing associated with its acquisition of Leapforce, Inc. and RaterLabs, Inc. (Leapforce).
Appen is a global leader in the development of high-quality, human-annotated datasets for machine learning and artificial intelligence. Leapforce, based in California, specialises in search relevance with a highly automated, proprietary, end-to-end technology platform. The acquisition adds scale and scope to Appen and enables greater participation in the dynamic and high-growth artificial intelligence market.
The financing funded the balance of the purchase price and provides capacity for ongoing growth initiatives. The financing package comprised an acquisition facility and a multi-option working capital facility, as well as a platform to meet Appen’s funding needs in the future.
Hai-Dang Nguyen, a partner in our Sydney office, led a global team of lawyers comprising associate Hugh Pilkington and others in Sydney, as well as US colleagues Patrick Fields and Denis Oyakawa (Los Angeles), Guy Guinn (Ohio) and Larry Schiffer and Jill Davidson (New York).