Buy-out translates as a good bit of business

GAVIN WHEELDON . . . fantastic opportunity

£7.5m deal speaks volumes
DELPH language services provider Applied Language Solutions Ltd has been bought by Capita for £7.5million, with a further contingent consideration of up to £60million, based on performance over the next four years.

Founded by chief executive officer Gavin Wheeldon, from Greenfield, in 2003, the business, at Riverside Court, Huddersfield Road, has grown to a turnover of £10.6million (financial year to May, 2011) providing translation and interpreting services to the public and private sectors globally, with clients including Google, Sony, Dell and Caterpillar.

Commenting on the sale, Mr Wheeldon (34) said: “ALS has a fantastic opportunity for growth.

“I am 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.”

ALS, which has around 130 employees based in the UK, India, Europe and the US and contracts 17,000 linguists across the globe, will form a new standalone business within the Capita Group.

Mr Wheeldon will remain as chief executive, continuing to lead the growth of the business.

In August, 2011, ALS was awarded a framework agreement with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The MoJ and its partners, including Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service, the Crown Prosecution Service, Her Majesty’s Prison Service and police forces across England and Wales, will be able to sign contracts under the agreement for the delivery of interpreting and translation services.

The framework is expected to deliver cost savings in excess of £60million over five years, greatly reducing the criminal justice sector’s spend in this area.

Capita identified ALS for acquisition given the potential growth of the business through the successful rollout of the MoJ and other large contracts, and the opportunity for greater market penetration within the language services market.

The company is also known for its investment into research and development of machine translation technology, a key platform for growth within the industry.

Capita 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.”