RWS establishes presence in Africa with STComms acquisition

Tech-enabled language services provider RWS Holdings has set up shop in Africa with the acquisition of Cape Town-based STComms Language Specialists.

RWS said on Tuesday that the acquisition marked a milestone for the group, enabling clients to further their reach into the African market, with locally-based talent and linguistic expertise across more than 40 African languages, and strengthening its position in rarer languages.

The AIM-listed group said the deal would be funded from existing cash resources and was in line with its strategy to actively pursue acquisitions that have the potential to accelerate the delivery of its medium-term plans.

Chief executive Ian El-Mokadem said: "Africa is a continent that is of long-term strategic importance to our clients and, as one of the most linguistically diverse regions in the world, it presents a significant challenge for language services.

"We have partnered with ST Communications for many years and this acquisition supports our long-term strategy to continually invest and pioneer in new capabilities and will enable our clients to deepen their relationships in fast-growing African markets."

As of 0900 BST, RWS shares were up 2.89% at 249.0p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com