Clarivate

Clarivate is a British-American information-services and analytics company whose subscription products help organizations discover, evaluate, protect, and commercialize knowledge and intellectual property. Its customers include universities, research institutions, publishers, governments, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, healthcare organizations, patent departments, law firms, and brand owners. The company was formed in 2016 after Onex Corporation and Baring Private Equity Asia acquired Thomson Reuters’ Intellectual Property and Science business for approximately $3.55 billion. The transaction closed on October 4, 2016, creating an independent company initially known as Clarivate Analytics. The business inherited a large portfolio of bibliometric, patent, trademark, scientific, and research-management assets. These included the Web of Science family, Derwent patent-information services, CompuMark trademark research, and related intellectual-property products. Clarivate became publicly traded in 2019 through a merger with Churchill Capital Corp, a special-purpose acquisition company. Its shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CLVT. The public company subsequently expanded through a series of acquisitions. Important additions included Publons, Kopernio, TrademarkVision, SequenceBase, Darts-ip, Decision Resources Group, CustomersFirst Now, CPA Global, and ProQuest. The ProQuest acquisition, completed in 2021, materially broadened Clarivate’s academic and government portfolio by adding scholarly content, library systems, research workflows, and other information products. Clarivate’s principal activities are organized around three broad areas: Intellectual Property; Life Sciences and Healthcare; and Academia and Government. Web of Science supports citation indexing, research discovery, bibliometrics, and evaluation. Associated offerings include Journal Citation Reports, Essential Science Indicators, InCites, EndNote, Publons, and research-workflow tools. The company also publishes the annual Highly Cited Researchers list and produces analyses such as the Top 100 Global Innovators report. In intellectual property, Derwent products provide patent searching, classification, analytics, sequence information, and prosecution support. CompuMark services help trademark professionals screen proposed marks, conduct clearance research, and monitor possible infringement. Other acquired capabilities have addressed IP administration, case-law analytics, and patent-practice workflows. In life sciences and healthcare, Cortellis and related products provide intelligence on drug discovery, clinical trials, regulatory affairs, competitive activity, deals, digital health, generics, and manufacturing controls. Clarivate has also managed a portfolio of acquired software and data brands, which has produced both breadth and integration challenges. Some businesses have been divested, including Techstreet, MarkMonitor, Valipat, and ScholarOne. ScholarOne was sold to Silverchair in 2024, while MarkMonitor was sold to Newfold Digital in 2022. The company operates in a concentrated market for academic and professional information. Critics have argued that consolidation, price increases for some acquired products, limited integration or development of certain offerings, outsourcing, and reductions in telephone support have affected customers and employees. These criticisms are part of the wider debate over the cost, governance, and competitive structure of scholarly databases. Clarivate has continued to position itself as a provider of trusted data, analytics, workflow software, and decision support across research and professional knowledge markets.

Clarivate originated in the intellectual-property and science-information operations of Thomson Reuters. On July 11, 2016, Thomson Reuters agreed to sell that business to Onex Corporation and Baring Private Equity Asia for approximately $3.55 billion. The transaction closed on October 4, 2016, and the acquired operations became an independent company known as Clarivate Analytics. Its inherited portfolio included Web of Science, scientific and research analytics, patent databases, trademark information, and intellectual-property workflow services. The new company pursued a strategy of assembling specialized information businesses around high-value professional workflows. In 2017 it acquired Publons, a platform that records and recognizes scholarly peer review. In 2018 it acquired Kopernio, which helped researchers locate accessible full-text articles, and TrademarkVision, an artificial-intelligence company focused on trademark image searching. In 2019 Clarivate added SequenceBase for biological and chemical patent-sequence information and Darts-ip for intellectual-property case-law data and analytics. Clarivate entered the public markets in 2019 through a merger with Churchill Capital Corp. The transaction provided a New York Stock Exchange listing under CLVT. The company continued its acquisition-led expansion in 2020, purchasing Decision Resources Group for healthcare and life-sciences intelligence, CustomersFirst Now for IP software and services, and CPA Global for intellectual-property administration technology and related services. The 2021 acquisition of ProQuest was one of Clarivate’s most consequential expansions. It added scholarly publishing content, library technology, research-management resources, and products inherited by ProQuest through earlier acquisitions, including Innovative Interfaces offerings. The deal strengthened Clarivate’s academic and government segment and increased the breadth of its subscription and workflow portfolio. Clarivate has periodically reshaped the portfolio through divestitures. Techstreet was sold in 2020, MarkMonitor was sold to Newfold Digital in 2022, and Valipat was divested in 2024. In November 2024, ScholarOne was sold to Silverchair. These transactions reflected a continuing effort to focus the company on selected research, analytics, intellectual-property, and life-sciences activities. By 2023, Clarivate described its operations through three strategic business units: Intellectual Property; Life Sciences and Healthcare; and Academia and Government. Its major product families included Web of Science and related research analytics, Cortellis life-sciences intelligence, Derwent patent services, CompuMark trademark services, and ProQuest’s academic and library products. Leadership changed significantly in 2022. Jerre Stead moved from executive chair and CEO toward a non-executive chair role, while Jonathan Gear became CEO on September 1. Stead subsequently retired from the board and became chair emeritus. In 2024 Clarivate appointed Matti Shem Tov, formerly associated with ProQuest, as chief executive officer. The company has attracted criticism concerning the economics and governance of scholarly information. Observers and customers have raised concerns about market concentration, increases in prices for some acquired products, insufficient integration or development of acquired services, outsourcing of work from the United States and United Kingdom to India, and the removal of telephone support for some products. These issues sit within a broader debate about the market power of large academic-database providers, rather than representing a single confirmed corporate scandal. Clarivate remains an active global provider of subscription data, analytics, content, and workflow software.

1. 2024Matti Shem Tov becomes CEO

   Clarivate appointed Matti Shem Tov as chief executive officer.

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2. 2022Russia commercial activity discontinued

   Clarivate announced that it would cease commercial activity in Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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3. 2021ProQuest acquisition

   Clarivate acquired ProQuest, expanding its academic, library, research, and government information businesses.

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4. 2020Expansion into healthcare and IP administration

   Clarivate acquired Decision Resources Group, CustomersFirst Now, and CPA Global.

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5. 2019Public listing on the NYSE

   Clarivate merged with Churchill Capital Corp and began trading as CLVT.

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6. 2017Publons acquisition

   Clarivate acquired Publons, a platform for documenting and recognizing scholarly peer review.

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7. 2016Clarivate is established as an independent company

   Onex Corporation and Baring Private Equity Asia completed the acquisition of Thomson Reuters’ Intellectual Property and Science business, creating Clarivate Analytics.

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Premium, subscription-based information, workflow software, and analytics for research, intellectual property, life sciences, healthcare, and professional decision-making.

• Web of ScienceResearch database and analytics

  Web of Science is Clarivate’s citation-indexing and research-discovery platform. It supports literature searching, citation analysis, bibliometric evaluation, and the construction of research-performance indicators. Its data underpins associated services such as Journal Citation Reports and Essential Science Indicators and is used by researchers, universities, funders, publishers, and governments.

• CortellisLife sciences intelligence

  Cortellis is a family of intelligence products for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical-device, and healthcare organizations. Its coverage includes clinical trials, competitive intelligence, licensing and deals, drug discovery, regulatory affairs, digital health, generics, and chemistry, manufacturing, and controls. The products are designed to support decisions across the development and commercialization lifecycle.

• DerwentPatent information and analytics

  Derwent provides patent searching, classification, analytics, and intellectual-property workflow capabilities. The portfolio includes Derwent Innovation, Derwent Data Analyzer, Derwent SequenceBase, and GENESEQ. It is used by patent professionals, research teams, corporate IP departments, and legal advisers to investigate inventions, portfolios, technologies, and competitive activity.

• CompuMarkTrademark research and protection

  CompuMark supplies trademark-searching, screening, clearance, and monitoring services. Products and services associated with the portfolio include SAEGIS, TM go365, analyst-led full searches, and trademark watching. The offering helps brand owners and trademark professionals assess proposed marks and identify potentially conflicting or infringing uses.

• ProQuestAcademic and library information services2021

  ProQuest operates within Clarivate’s academic and government portfolio and provides scholarly content, research resources, library technologies, and related workflow products. The portfolio also includes products brought into ProQuest through earlier acquisitions, including library-management systems and platforms associated with Innovative Interfaces.

• EndNoteResearch workflow software

  EndNote is a reference-management and research-writing product associated with Clarivate. It helps users collect, organize, cite, and format scholarly references and bibliographies. It is part of Clarivate’s broader research-workflow ecosystem alongside Web of Science and related discovery services.

• ScholarOneScholarly publishing workflow

  ScholarOne is a manuscript-submission and peer-review management system for academic journals. It supports electronic submission, reviewer recruitment, editorial workflows, compliance checks, and communication with authors. Clarivate sold the business to Silverchair in 2024.

• 2020Top 100 Global Innovators report

  Global

  Clarivate’s annual report identifies organizations with strong patent performance, valuable inventions, commercialization potential, and influence on subsequent innovation.

  Outcome. The report established a recurring public-facing innovation ranking and analysis.

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• 2019Highly Cited Researchers list

  Global

  Clarivate publishes an annual list identifying researchers whose papers rank among the top one percent by citations for their field and publication year in Web of Science data. The list is used as a visibility and recognition program for influential research.

  Outcome. The annual program became a recurring Clarivate research-impact publication.

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• 2024Appointment of Matti Shem Tov as CEOOther

  Clarivate undertook a further leadership transition after Jonathan Gear’s tenure as CEO.

  What changed. Clarivate appointed former ProQuest chief executive Matti Shem Tov as chief executive officer.

  Aftermath. The appointment connected Clarivate’s corporate leadership with the ProQuest business acquired in 2021.

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• 2022Withdrawal from commercial activity in RussiaStrategy

  Clarivate had an office in Odesa, Ukraine, and responded to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

  What changed. The company announced that it would cease all commercial activity in Russia.

  Aftermath. Clarivate removed its commercial operations from the Russian market while continuing to operate internationally.

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• 2021Acquisition of ProQuestM&A

  Clarivate pursued broader coverage of academic, library, research, and government information markets.

  What changed. Clarivate acquired ProQuest and integrated its products into the Academia and Government portfolio.

  Aftermath. The transaction significantly expanded Clarivate’s scholarly content, library technology, and research-workflow capabilities.

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• 2019Public-market merger with Churchill Capital CorpM&A

  Clarivate sought a public listing after operating as an independently owned information-services company since 2016.

  What changed. Clarivate merged with Churchill Capital Corp and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under CLVT.

  Aftermath. The transaction made Clarivate a publicly traded company and provided the platform for subsequent acquisition and portfolio strategies.

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• 2024Clarivate appoints Matti Shem Tov as chief executive officer

  Clarivate appointed former ProQuest chief executive Matti Shem Tov as CEO.

  Leadership change
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• 2024Clarivate divests ScholarOne to Silverchair

  ScholarOne, a manuscript-submission and peer-review workflow platform, was sold to Silverchair.

  M&A
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• 2022Clarivate ends commercial activity in Russia

  Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Clarivate announced that it would cease commercial activity in Russia.

  RegulationOther
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• 2022Clarivate announces leadership transition

  Jerre Stead announced his retirement transition, Jonathan Gear became chief executive officer, and Stead later became chair emeritus.

  Leadership change
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• 2021Clarivate acquires ProQuest

  The acquisition expanded Clarivate’s academic and government portfolio with scholarly content, library systems, and research workflow products.

  M&A
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• 2019Clarivate becomes publicly listed through Churchill Capital Corp merger

  Clarivate merged with the SPAC Churchill Capital Corp and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under CLVT.

  M&A
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• 2016Clarivate completes acquisition of Thomson Reuters Intellectual Property and Science business

  The transaction created Clarivate Analytics as an independent information-services company backed by Onex Corporation and Baring Private Equity Asia.

  M&A
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4. Appointment of Matti Shem Tov as CEO