The MBO was supported by a £12.4 million investment from Mobeus.
Cheadle Hulme-based 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 in the UK and overseas.
The business has grown steadily over the last four years and has developed its German and French operations which make up more than 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.
The investment from Mobeus will enable The Translation People to consolidate the market growth through its buy and build strategy with one target acquisition already in due diligence.
The MBO sees Mobeus back Managing Director Jasmin Schneider and her existing senior leadership team. As part of the transaction, founders Stephen Wilde and David 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.
Steve Dolton will become chair of The Translation People and Tom Grunwald will take on the role of Chief Financial Officer. Dolton is a former serial PE backed Chief Financial Officer, having been instrumental to the success of the buy and build at Azzurri and more recently as a Non-Executive Director at GI Solutions and Knights plc.
Jasmin Schneider, Managing Director, The Translation People, said: “The market for translation services is large and growing. With Mobeus’ support we aspire to be one of the largest LSPs in the UK and to continue to develop our European operations. Mobeus has been extremely supportive of the management team through the process, and we have really enjoyed developing the strategy together.”
Chris Price, Mobeus Partner, added, “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 disintermediated market.”
Vicky Protano, Partner in the corporate team at Mills & Reeve, said: “The LSP market is ripe for consolidation and, armed with the investment from Mobeus, the visionary management team at The Translation People are in an excellent position to achieve their international growth aspirations. It was great to work alongside David, Steve, Jasmin and the rest of the team and Tim Scott at Cleveland Scott to get this across the line ahead of the Christmas break and we wish the team and Mobeus all the very best in continuing to grow an already successful business.”
The Translation People founder, David Nichols, said: “The Mills & Reeve team worked extremely hard over the festive period and expertly guided us through what, for us, was a complicated process. The service we received from Vicky and the team was excellent and played a pivotal role in getting the deal over the line.”
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