What a week!

Two major acquisitions in one week! I hope there are no more surprises, so I can sleep a little bit now :)

I also wish I had bought some stock before this. Since January I have been talking about the merger of Lionbridge and Bowne, yet I didn't even think of investing in any of the companies. Had I done that, I could have gained 43% on Lionbridge stock in one day!

Too bad I am too naïve, too broke, or too distracted to invest in this business!

Now I look forward to a quieter summer period with some new research coming.

It's official! Lionbridge buys Bowne

You saw it here first!

Earlier tonight, Lionbridge Technologies (NASDAQ: LIOX) announced a $180 million acquisition of Bowne Global Solutions, thereby creating the world's largest player in a growing and global $6 billion market for globalization and localization services--services that enable leading global organizations to release products and content that meet the linguistic, technical and cultural requirements of customers, partners, and employees worldwide. (See below for text of the announcement.)

This transaction:

* Joins the top two industry leaders with global scale across 25 countries and approximately 500 customers

* Establishes Lionbridge as the industry consolidator and clear leader in the sector

* Adds scale and revenue growth to Lionbridge's global infrastructure

* Is accretive to Lionbridge earnings, with doubling of profit margins in 2006

* Follows on the heels of another recent transaction in the growing sector (SDL and TRADOS)

Top 15 Translation companies will become Top 20

If you missed it, the big news last week was the publication by Common Sense Advisory of a list of the Top 15 companies in the translation and localization industry. The link to it is here.

Well, some companies were missing from the list. As soon as more information is checked, the Top 20 list will be published. The new companies to be included are (not in this order).

- RWS (http://www.rws.com) from the UK
- VistaTEC (http://www.vistatec.ie) from Ireland
- Logos (http://www.logos.net) from Italy
- LCJ EEIG (http://www.lcj-eeig.com/) from Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Spain

I am still missing the 20th... Lot's of candidates out there.

Details on SDL's proposed acquisition of Trados

Financial Express Company Announcements (UK-Wire)

Lionbridge update

Two different sources confirm that the Lionbridge (LIOX) acquisition of Bowne Global Solutions (BGS) is a done deal. Contracts are drafted and apparently the MBO is off the table. I wonder if the Trados deal wilk accelerate the announcement.

SDL buys Trados

Monday is the big bang day. SDL is announcing the acquisition of Trados for $60 million dollars. Details to follow the announcement. Check Common Sense Advisory's Global Watchtower for more details.

Gianni Davico in Pasadena at the ALC Conference

Pasadena,June 15, 2005. Gianni Davico, owner of Tesi & Testi, a translation company from Turin, Italy, and author of the book "Il mercato della traduzione in Italia" participated in my Sales Management Workshop for Translation Company Owners. I received an autographed copy of the book and promised to read it soon.
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?Thanks to Elisabete Miranda from Translation Plus for taking the picture.

Common Sense Advisory has its new blog! Smart commentary about the localization industry

Common Sense Advisory

Krakow, Poland

On June 7 and 8, 2005, I worked with the Argos (www.argostranslations.com) to plan and stimulate their growth. Argos has a very dynamic management team, and a group of young and driven professionals.
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?The city of Krakow is wonderful. I had excellent (and very cheap) meals at restaurants with a lot of personality.

Pisa...

On June 4th, I presented at the masters course in technical translation at the University of Pisa.