Wheeldon sells translation firm for up to £67.5m
GAVIN Wheeldon has sold his translation firm Applied Language Solutions (ALS) to Capita in a deal worth up to £67.5m.
Mr Wheeldon will receive an initial £7.5m for the business, but could receive up to £60m more if the business hits performance targets over the next four years. He set up ALS in 2003 from his bedroom in Huddersfield and has grown sales to £10.6m in the year to May 2011, on which it declared an operating loss of £300,000.
The company, which is now based in Delph, provides translation services to a range of public and private sector clients, including Google, Dell and Caterpillar. It employs 130 staff directly, and has built a network of more than 17,000 linguists.
In August, it was awarded a major framework contract with the Ministry of Justice to carry out translation services for it, for Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service and the Crown Prosecution Service.
ALS will become a standalone business within Capita and will continue to be run by Wheeldon.
Wheeldon said: “ALS has a fantastic opportunity for growth. I’m extremely proud of the growth we have achieved to date and as part of a bigger company we can credibly pursue much larger market opportunities.
“We have a fantastic customer base and a talented team and I’m very excited about our future under the ownership of Capita.”
Capita said the consideration would be based on “ALS achieving growth targets in line with the successful roll-out of the MoJ contract and greater penetration of the UK language services market”.
Group chief executive, Paul Pindar, said: “The acquisition adds a new service to the range of those the Capita Group is able to offer to both the public and private sectors.
“By combining the specialist skills, market reach and proprietary technology of ALS with Capita’s operational expertise and balance sheet we believe that this will allow us to become a very strong player in the language services industry with excellent opportunities for organic growth both in the UK and internationally.”
