RWS snaps up Alpha Translations in $6m deal

Intellectual property support services provider RWS Holdings announced the acquisition of legal and financial translations company Alpha Translations Canada for a cash consideration of $6.0m on Thursday.

The AIM-traded firm said that Alpha Translations, based in Alberta, provided “rapid delivery” of high-quality legal and financial translations to multinational law firms and corporations, with a client base primarily located in Germany.

It supported clients by helping them to achieve their international business goals, with an ability to deliver across multiple jurisdictions, typically to short deadlines, on business-critical matters.

Clients reportedly included a number of the world's top 100 law firms and Fortune 500 companies.

The acquisition would be “highly complementary” to RWS' existing Language Solutions business, the board said, and would strengthen its specialist legal and financial translation offering.

In particular, the acquisition would enhance the presence of RWS Language Solutions in its key growth areas of North America and Germany, significantly enhancing its legal client base.

Alpha Translations achieved revenues of $4.4m for the year ended 31 July, and an adjusted EBITDA of $0.9m.

“The acquisition of Alpha Translations is a natural fit to strengthen our existing specialist legal and financial translation services, while providing a strong roster of clients in Germany, a key area of focus for our Language Solutions business,” said RWS chairman Andrew Brode.

“We see a number of opportunities for Alpha Translations to benefit from RWS' scale and global presence, particularly the prospect of developing sales opportunities across the group's full suite of services and technology platforms to new and existing clients.”