MRI Software Acquires AI Real Estate Pioneer LEVERTON to Turn Unstructured Data into Business Insights

Acquisition of global PropTech innovator with market-leading lease abstraction solution strengthens MRI’s end-to-end offering, while saving clients time and money

Solon, Ohio – July 31, 2019 – MRI Software (“MRI”), a global leader in real estate software solutions, announces that it has acquired LEVERTON, a leading artificial intelligence (AI)-powered data extraction solution for real estate and corporate documents. The acquisition bolsters MRI’s comprehensive and flexible offering and gives property owners, service providers, and corporate occupiers broader access to LEVERTON’s market-leading automated lease abstraction application. With LEVERTON, organizations are able to more quickly and efficiently turn unstructured information in leases and other corporate and legal documents into data sets that can be mined for actionable insights, leading to better business decisions and improved operational efficiencies.

“The acquisition of LEVERTON brings a true innovator and global PropTech leader into the MRI family, with expertise in the application of AI to real estate data collection, management, and analytics,” says Patrick Ghilani, MRI’s Chief Executive Officer. “Going forward, we will incorporate AI-driven ‘LEVERTON intelligence’ into the very fabric of MRI’s DNA, enhancing our singular customer experience by enabling clients throughout the world to tap into data across the MRI ecosystem. The result: smarter business solutions that generate fresh and powerful insights.”

Using proprietary optical character recognition technology and AI-based, deep learning algorithms to “read” and capture thousands of data points from multiple sources in up to 25 languages – which can include scanned paper, PDFs, and processable documents with inconsistent standards – LEVERTON creates searchable, structured data sets that provide a clear and accurate picture of a business’ real estate assets. The cloud-based AI engine positions real estate owners, operators, and occupiers to optimize their handling of contracts, run operational teams more efficiently and process transactions faster – enabling them to more effectively manage revenue and expense streams across property portfolios. The ability to create transparent, accurate and auditable lease portfolios has become critical for companies with real estate assets working to comply with global accounting standards such as IFRS 16 and ASC 842.

“LEVERTON leverages AI to successfully tackle the problem of virtual – and even real – filing cabinets full of leases and other key documents trapped as unstructured and unsearchable data,” says Russ Butler, MRI’s Chief Technology Officer. “Put simply, it provides easy access to difficult data, saving companies time and money.”

As it scans leases and related documents, the LEVERTON AI engine “learns” to spot key data points such as start and end dates, critical options and renewals, and rates per square foot. The AI can also take in variables such as whether utilities are included or excluded, property tax, and common area costs such as general maintenance, security and landscaping – and it self-adjusts as it applies new learnings. Once extracted, lease and other data can then be analyzed for trends and patterns to uncover hidden insights that guide negotiation strategies, reduce administration costs, boost efficiencies and uncover revenue opportunities such as rent-roll comparisons and anomaly detection of key lease terms.

“Artificial intelligence and machine learning are among an array of innovations driving both disruption and opportunity in PropTech,” Butler adds. “MRI has already been utilizing AI-based automation within our Data Management Services for financial and investment data processing. This acquisition adds another dimension to our capabilities and, looking ahead, MRI’s open architecture will support a tightened integration with the lease abstraction solution while enabling us to leverage LEVERTON intelligence across other use cases to deliver new efficiencies and value for clients.”

Abhinav Somani, LEVERTON’s Chief Executive Officer sees bringing its AI solution into MRI’s broader application suite as a logical next stage in its evolution: “Demand for data intelligence has surged within the real estate sector and joining a PropTech category founder with a market-leading end-to-end offering gives us the scalability we need to extend our global reach. What’s more, MRI’s open and connected approach fosters innovation from all sources and empowers companies to solve complex problems in their own way, making it the perfect strategic and cultural fit for LEVERTON intelligence. We’re just beginning to scratch the surface of what AI can do for companies all over the world and being part of the MRI family will allow us to take our solutions and offerings to the next level.”

Prior to the acquisition, LEVERTON was an MRI partner for more than two years and is already used by several MRI clients as part of their integrated property management system. One of these clients, Derwent London, a leading office investor and regenerator, estimates that the use of LEVERTON intelligence has resulted in 60% to 70% savings of time previously spent in document review. Says Jennifer Whybrow, Head of Financial Planning and Analysis at Derwent London: “We are pleased to be working with LEVERTON to speed up and improve the way we capture key commercial lease terms. We are always looking for ways to improve our business through innovation and leveraging the power of AI to achieve operational efficiencies fits with that ethos.”

Founded in 2012 with offices in New York, London and New Delhi, LEVERTON has more than 100 global corporate and investor clients, including JLL, Savills, RSM, Zurich Alternative Asset Management, and Danaher. LEVERTON’s Software as a Service (SaaS) solution has an easy-to-use, web-based interface, with more than 5,000 users around the world and roughly 500,000 documents processed to date. In addition, LEVERTON offers its technology as an engine through its advanced APIs and AI as a Service (AIaaS) offering.

For LEVERTON clients, it will be business as usual. The company will continue to support customers in its other industries such as healthcare, insurance, legal, financial, as well as real estate. MRI champions an open and connected ecosystem enabled by its extensive and growing global partner network; it remains committed to offering choice in terms of integrating LEVERTON with third-party enterprise resource planning and property management technology solutions.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as MRI Software’s legal counsel for the transaction. Canaccord Genuity acted as LEVERTON’S financial advisor for the transaction.

About MRI Software
MRI Software is a leading provider of innovative real estate software applications and hosted solutions. MRI’s comprehensive and flexible technology platform coupled with an open and connected ecosystem meets the unique needs of real estate businesses – from property-level management and accounting to investment modelling and analytics for the global commercial and residential markets. A pioneer of the real estate software industry, MRI develops lasting client relationships based on nearly five decades of expertise and insight. Through leading solutions and a rich partner ecosystem, MRI gives organizations the freedom to transform the way communities live, work and play while elevating their business and gaining a competitive edge. For more information, please visit mrisoftware.com.

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