Proventis Partners has exclusively advised tsd Technik-Sprachendienst GmbH on its sale to SeproTec Multilingual Solutions

Munich, April 20, 2022 – Proventis Partners has exclusively advised tsd Technik-Sprachendienst GmbH, Cologne/Germany, on its sale to SeproTec Multilingual Solutions, Madrid/Spain. The tsd transaction is Proventis Partners’ fourteenth M&A transaction in the language services sector.

The transaction

SeproTec Multilingual Solutions (“SeproTec”) acquired 100% of the shares in tsd Technik-Sprachendienst GmbH (“tsd”) from Dina Freibott, who has developed the company over the last 30 years into a leading language service provider based in Germany. Dominique Puls and Stefan Puls as tsd management team will retain their roles within the company as managing directors and will be part of the future set up of SeproTec.

The role of Proventis Partners

Proventis Partners acted as exclusive M&A advisor to the shareholder, Dina Freibott and her Management Team, consisting of Dominique and Stefan Puls, in the sale of tsd. The advisory services included the selection of potential buyers, discussions and negotiations with the buyer, the coordination of the due diligence as well as the structuring and negotiation of the economic terms of the executed share deal. The transaction team of Proventis Partners consisted of Rainer Wieser (Partner, Munich), and Andreas König (Director, Munich).

The tsd transaction marks Proventis Partners’ fourteenth M&A transaction in the language service provider (“LSP”) sector. The most recent transactions were the acquisition of Lingua World GmbH by German Translations Network AG in May 2021, which made it one of the TOP 10 German LSPs and one of the TOP 100 global LSPs, and the acquisition of TANNER Translations GmbH + Co KG, Düsseldorf, by RKT Übersetzungs- und Dokumentations-GmbH, a subsidiary of German Translation Network AG, Freiburg, in May 2020.

The LSP market

According to an analysis of the LSP market conducted by Proventis Partners, the industry is facing a surge in supply as consumer demand for faster and more accessible media and other types of localisation services increases. There are six technology trends: machine translation (MT), automated workflows (AW), automated quality assurance (AQA), translation memory (TM), translation management systems (TMS) and artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems. There are two main reasons for this: decreasing profit margins and the need for faster turnaround of translation projects. Technology enables a variety of tools and services that can increase operational efficiency and thus counteract the continuous price erosion in the marketplace, which has been created primarily by the proliferation of streaming services and the increasing volume and speed with which audio, visual and textual content is consumed in different languages around the globe.

Transaction analyses of the last three years underline these trends: In 71 mergers and acquisitions and private placements, the total volume of language technology transactions amounted to 1.2 billion euros. Cross-border activity in the sector remains strong, with 41% international investment from 24 buyer nations in 22 target countries. Most transactions were in the USA, China, Japan and Israel. Almost two-thirds of all transactions in the language technology sector are private placements, with the remainder being mergers and acquisitions, ranging from the largest deals of around €800 million to smaller investment rounds of €10,000.

About SeproTec

SeproTec Multilingual Solutions is a Multilingual Service Provider ranked among the Top 30 Language Service Companies in the world.  With more than 25 years of experience in providing high-quality, cost-effective solutions in translation, intellectual property, and interpretating, SeproTec distinguishes itself by utilizing the most advanced technology and translation management technology, specifically designed to maximize customer satisfaction.

SeproTec is proud to have achieved certifications for international Corporate Social Responsibility, Quality Control, and Environmental Management (UNE-EN ISO 17100, ISO 13485, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001). SeproTec has more than 400 employees and 13,500 freelancers collaborators within Dedicated Account Teams that provide 24/7 coverage for our clients’ multilingual needs wherever in the world they may be. www.seprotec.com

About tsd

Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Cologne, Germany, tsd Technik-Sprachendienst GmbH has successfully been part of the translation and localization industry for over 45 years. Offering personal and comprehensive services tsd has become an established and experienced supplier for a wide range of language services in Germany and worldwide.

tsd pursues a holistic service approach surpassing the standards offered by a classic translation agency. The companies’ core competencies are multilingual projects: translation, review, validation, terminology, MT solutions, post editing, transcreation, language consulting. Innovative and efficient processes implemented in areas such as quality assurance (DIN ISO 900, ISO 17100, and ISO 18587, ISO 27001) and technology characterize tsd’s work methods. Especially the internal team of linguists enable tsd to cover complex customer requests, to react quickly and flexibly and to offer services in high quality.

tsd’s mission includes a close and transparent customer relationship coupled with bespoke, efficient processes.  www.tsd-int.com

About Proventis Partners

Proventis Partners is a partner-managed M&A advisory firm whose clients include a majority of medium-sized family-owned companies, group subsidiaries as well as private equity funds. With more than 30 M&A advisors, Proventis Partners is one of the largest independent M&A advisors in the German-speaking region and looks back on 20 years of M&A experience and more than 300 completed transactions. The M&A consultants with offices in Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich and Zurich are active in the sectors Industrials & Chemicals, Business Services, Consumer & Retail, TMT, Healthcare and Energy & Sustainability. The exclusive membership in Mergers Alliance – an international partnership of leading M&A specialists – enables Proventis Partners to support clients in 30 countries in the most important markets worldwide. The members of Mergers Alliance, with over 200 M&A professionals, provide Proventis Partners and thus its clients with unique access to local markets in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa.