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.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
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)
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)
Monday, June 27, 2005
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.
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.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Saturday, June 18, 2005
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.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
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.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
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.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Merger Gossip
The word in the street is that Lionbridge (NYSE:LIOX) will be acquiring the American operations of Bowne Global Solutions (NYSE:BNE). Apparently the European and Asian Operations of BGS will be the subject of a management buy-out led by Brian Kelly (VP of Europe).
The good sources are very quiet, of course, but I would not be surprised if Lionbridge bought the whole operation.
As I said in a recent QuickTake that we published at Common Sense Advisory, Language Service Deal-Making Heats Up, I believe that this consolidation at the top will be beneficial for the industry as a whole, although the sum of the parts will be smaller than the two companies operating separately, especially because of the Microsoft factor (MSFT is the biggest client of both companies, and its vendor managers would not allow so much concentration of localization work with one vendor only).
Stay tuned for more.
The good sources are very quiet, of course, but I would not be surprised if Lionbridge bought the whole operation.
As I said in a recent QuickTake that we published at Common Sense Advisory, Language Service Deal-Making Heats Up, I believe that this consolidation at the top will be beneficial for the industry as a whole, although the sum of the parts will be smaller than the two companies operating separately, especially because of the Microsoft factor (MSFT is the biggest client of both companies, and its vendor managers would not allow so much concentration of localization work with one vendor only).
Stay tuned for more.
IQPC in San Francisco
I just drove 10 hours from San Francisco to San Diego after participating for 2-days in the IQPC Website Globalization conference. What a treat! The best part was that there were very few translation vendors. Most of the participants had valuable content and the conference was small enough that I was able to meet with almost all participants.
I was representing my company, Common Sense Advisory (www.commonsenseadvisory.com) and I must confess that I was a little disappointed that nobody quoted our research there. Fortunately, this was also the first event in which we had one of our salespeople present. I am sure that pretty soon there will be more people reading our reports on Web Globalization and Localization issues.
Today there was also a LISA (www.lisa.org) event in Boston. Unfortunately, I don't participate in LISA events anymore. I used to be LISA's fiercest supporter. I sold multimillion dollar contracts there, I met my wife there, and I sold my company there. I was even elected as a member of their executive committee. When all the members of the board resigned a few years ago, I stayed and supported the organization.
But the organization has lost its objectivity and in the words of its Managing Director, now it is a "pay for play" organization. If you sponsor one of their events, you get a speaking spot. This goes against the principles that my business partner, Don DePalma, and I have established for our business: vendor-independence and objectivity.
The best part of the story is that a friend called me to say that two speakers mentioned our research, more specifically a great report that Don wrote about Content Management Systems and Globalization called "Rage Against the Content Management Machine".
All in all, I am happy!
I was representing my company, Common Sense Advisory (www.commonsenseadvisory.com) and I must confess that I was a little disappointed that nobody quoted our research there. Fortunately, this was also the first event in which we had one of our salespeople present. I am sure that pretty soon there will be more people reading our reports on Web Globalization and Localization issues.
Today there was also a LISA (www.lisa.org) event in Boston. Unfortunately, I don't participate in LISA events anymore. I used to be LISA's fiercest supporter. I sold multimillion dollar contracts there, I met my wife there, and I sold my company there. I was even elected as a member of their executive committee. When all the members of the board resigned a few years ago, I stayed and supported the organization.
But the organization has lost its objectivity and in the words of its Managing Director, now it is a "pay for play" organization. If you sponsor one of their events, you get a speaking spot. This goes against the principles that my business partner, Don DePalma, and I have established for our business: vendor-independence and objectivity.
The best part of the story is that a friend called me to say that two speakers mentioned our research, more specifically a great report that Don wrote about Content Management Systems and Globalization called "Rage Against the Content Management Machine".
All in all, I am happy!
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