The Translation People is a specialist Language Service Provider (“LSP”) delivering B2B translation services to global corporates and SMEs. Using a combination of proprietary and third-party technology and a network of international linguists, The Translation People provides business critical translations for organisations across a range of sectors.
Mobeus was first introduced to The Translation People in 2018 and stayed close to the business as current MD Jasmin Schneider assumed the leadership from vendors Stephen Wilde and David Nichols. As part of this transaction Wilde and Nichols are stepping back from day-to-day involvement in the business but are supporting the buyout with a material investment and will retain a minority shareholding.
The Translation People has grown steadily over the last four years and has developed its German and French operations which make up over 40% of group turnover. The LSP market is highly fragmented with an estimated 27,000 LSPs globally. With ever increasing language requirements due to the globalisation of business, the importance of high quality LSPs is increasing. Having made one successful acquisition prior to Mobeus’s involvement, the strategy for the business is to grow through buy and build and Mobeus already has the first acquisition for The Translation People in diligence.
The transaction sees Mobeus back MD Schneider and her existing senior leadership team in an MBO that will be supplemented with the addition of Chair Steve Dolton and CFO Tom Grunwald. Dolton is a former serial PE backed CFO having been instrumental to the success of the business services buy and build at Azzurri and more recently as a Non-Exec at GI Solutions and Knights plc
The transaction completed at the end of December 2022 and was funded by a £12.4m investment by Mobeus alongside vendor and management rollover, with no third-party debt funding.
This is the third investment from Mobeus’s latest UK-focused small-cap buyout fund, Mobeus Fund V, and completes a very busy period for the firm. It follows investments in GW Global Insights and Gungho Marketing last year. Mobeus also completed two realisations from Mobeus Fund IV in 2022, generating a 2.8x return on the sale of Kinneir Dufort and 4.4x from the sale of Access Partnership.
The investment was led by Chris Price alongside Freddie Bacon and Jordan Kay. Chris Price has joined the board on completion with Jordan Kay joining as Board Observer.
Mobeus was introduced to the investment by Tim Scott of Cleveland Scott.
Chris Price, Mobeus Partner, says, “We are delighted to have backed Jasmin and her team at The Translation People. We have stayed close to the business since 2018 and are delighted to have been able to track its strong performance through COVID and the continued development of the EU operations. We are excited to back a buy and build in what is a highly fragmented market.”
Mobeus was advised by BDO (Buyside Corporate Finance), SPB (Legals & Legal DD), Armstrong (Commercial DD), Cortus (Financial DD), Nimdzi (LSP sector insight), Modo25 (Digital DD), Catalysis (Management DD), Sales Blueprint (Sales DD), Beyond M&A (Technology DD) and Grant Thornton (Tax).