下午咖啡:Onit-Bodhala协议并购活动vity; Economic indicators show expansion; Northeast slammed by remains of Hurricane Ida

Adobe Stock

Legal workflow specialistOnit has acquired Bodhala, an AI-backed solution that manages legal spend with analytics and helps legal departments save time and money by more efficiently choosing outside counsel, Reuters reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Since 2019, Houston-based Onit has acquired SimpleLegal, AXDRAFT and McCarthyFinch.

Find the right procurement technology and vendor for your company with Spend Matters’ new 5-step “Procurement Technology Buyer’s Guide."

Other M&A news appears in the payments technology sector, with Dutch fintechProsus acquiring India-based BillDeskfor $4.7 billion, according to TechCrunch. BillDesk will merge with another Prosus fintech, PayU, and focus mainly on the Indian market.

Economic signs show expansion

Two indicators show growth in manufacturing sector and business spend overall, but finding workers has returned to be a problem.

The Institute of Supply Management's PMI survey showsa 15th straight month of manufacturing growth, with the index rising slightly to 59.9% from July's reading of 59.5%.

Coupa's Business Spend Index, a snapshot of spending by the more than 2,000 customers using its business spend management solution,indicates a 3% rise第三季度较前一季度。BSI表示d that travel-and-entertainment spending was up about 107%.

"Despite persistent supply chain disruptions, spiking COVID cases, and delayed return to work plans, spend per customer is up 20% year-over-year indicating business confidence is returning to pre-pandemic levels," Coupa Chief EconomistJeff Collins said in a press release.

ISM's report showed that employment moved into contraction territory, below 50%, with the index falling to 49%, 3.9 points lower compared to the July's 52.9%.

"The Employment Index returned to contraction after one month of expansion," ISM'sTimothy Fiore, who oversees the PMI business survey of industry leaders, said in a press release. "Hiring difficulties at panelists' companies were the most significant hurdle to further output in August."

Northeast is slammed by remains of Hurricane Ida

A multi-state storm Wednesday nightkilled 22 peopleas the remains of Hurricane Ida combined with another weather system to deluge a large swath of the Northeast US, the Associated Press reported.

Several inches of rain fell in a short amount of time as Ida's remnants approached from the west. Streets in New York were flooded, and its subway system was shut down by gushing water.

Ida hit Louisiana on Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane, and recovery from flooding and wind damage there could take weeks.

Check out Spend Matters’ new 5-step “Procurement Technology Buyer’s Guide."