Lexcelera sold to t’works Group
BCMS has advised leading international language services company Lexcelera on its sale to t’works Group. Headquartered in Paris, with offices in the UK, Canada and Argentina, Lexcelera is ISO 9001-certified, and has specialist expertise in machine translation technologies.
First founded in 1986 by Lori Thicke, Lexcelera is an established language industry leader, known for technology and service innovation. The business operates in all time zones around the world, coordinating and implementing international communications plans for its extensive client base, supported by a wide range of multilingual services and high-performance tools. With its established network of experts covering 60 countries, Lexcelera offers a ‘round-the-clock’ global service.
“We were attracted to BCMS for the high level of support, something other advisors didn’t offer” – Lori Thicke, founder and shareholder, Lexcelera
Headquartered in Geisenhausen, Germany, t’works is a specialist translation services provider operating 13 locations in Europe and North America and employing more than 190 people. The t’works Group and its companies – t’works Language Services, Enssner Zeitgeist, text&form, ASI and ProLangua – focus on complex and individual language and translation services. The group covers a broad service portfolio consisting of translation, proofreading and post-editing, software localization (for SAP, among others), terminology management, layout work, interpreting, transcription, transcreation and language consulting.
Deal insights
While Lexcelera will become part of the t’works family, it will continue to operate independently under its current management and maintain its brand. The group will work together in strategically relevant areas such as technology, customer service, and sales and quality management to strengthen and expand the brand’s offerings in the future.
Barbara Wohanka and Christian Enssner, Managing Directors at t’works, said: “We believe that the addition of Lexcelera’s extensive expertise in machine translation technologies, strong and diversified customer base, as well as experienced team, will bring great value to the t’works Group.”
Lexcelera founder Lori Thicke – who also co-founded not-for-profit organisation Translators Without Borders – commented on BCMS’ role in the transaction: “After interviewing half a dozen M&A advisors, I chose BCMS to help my partner and myself find the right purchaser for our company. We were attracted to BCMS for the high level of support, something other advisors didn’t offer. To make the process relatively painless, BCMS put a team of experts at our disposal who helped prepare marketing materials, screened candidate acquirers, maintained a data room for financial and legal documentation, accompanied us to interviews with potential buyers, managed multiple offers with multiple candidates and, most importantly, negotiated well on our behalf.”
Andy Denny, Director at BCMS, added: “It has been a great pleasure working with Lori and we are genuinely delighted to have helped her secure a great home for the company she has built and nurtured over 30+ years. With its focus on technical innovation, Lexcelera is at the forefront of development in the translation services sector, and we are sure that as part of the t’works family, this truly global business will continue to prosper.”
BCMS has a long track record of advising on transactions in the language services industry. This includes the 2013 sale of legal, patent and engineering sector specialist Falcon Translations to Xplanation Language Services, and the sale of Japanese Language Services to RWS Group, a world leader in translation, localization, intellectual property support solutions and life sciences language services.
