Ranking of Top 20 Translation Companies

Our list includes a mix of public companies, specialty units of public companies, and privately-held firms. Many of the private companies are anxious to change their status through some liquidity event – an IPO, merger, or acquisition.

1. Lionbridge Technologies (LIOX). Lionbridge became the top player this week with its acquisition of Bowne Global Solutions . CEO Rory Cowan claims that the secret to his success is being surrounded by top-notch people. These executives have built a full-service powerhouse that delivers managed services, application and development, translation, localization, testing (via its VeriTest unit), and e-learning (through its Indian Mentorix group) to the largest companies in the world. Its recent purchase of the Logoport translation software shields it from undue exposure to SDL’s acquisition of Trados.

2. Titan Corporation (TTN). Titan is the stealth player in the language market, owning the biggest translation contract from the U.S. government with this one contract alone representing 12.5 percent of its total revenues. It will soon be absorbed into L-3 Communications (LLL), an acquisition pending approval by shareholders. Titan’s specialty providing the military with services and goods. Ever since the 9/11 attacks, linguistic services have become a governmental priority – for example, the company may get a call on Wednesday to put five pairs of Farsi-speaking boots on the ground in Turkey by sundown Friday. The company currently provides translation and interpretation services in 18 countries. Due to national security concerns, Titan cannot tell us anything more about its business without, as the saying goes, having to kill us.

3. SDL International (SDL). In June 2005 SDL became the big story in the language industry with its acquisition of chief tool rival Trados. With a complete suite of services and technology, a global network of sales and production facilities, and a newfound focus on “global information management,” this company is shooting for the stars. Its unique approach to production with its own offshore operations actually doing the work gives them better control of costs.

4. STAR AG. STAR AG could be called the “quiet guys” in the industry, sitting off in their European corner but playing a key role in the German automotive industry and being a leader in technology use. Like SDL, STAR conflates its technology and services business in its sales channels so the company is usually seen by competitors as a tools provider. What they do not know is that language services represent by far the biggest share of STAR’s revenue mix.

5. RWS Group (RWS). RWS was established more than forty years ago in London to provide specialist intellectual property translation and information services. Publicly-traded on the London Stock Exchange, RWS also has a dedicated division providing translation, documentation, and localization services to the legal and financial, medical, pharmaceutical, chemical, engineering, and telecom industries. Its U.S. operations became ENLASO after a management buyout in 2004.

6. SDI Media Group. Do not expect SDI Media to compete for your business. They specialize in translations for the movie subtitling and dubbing industry. With the expansion of cable worldwide, growth opportunities abound. Next time you see Tom Cruise speaking Swahili, you know who to blame.

7. Xerox Global Services (XRX). Based in the UK, this group offers translation and localization services to Xerox departments and its clients. A major force in automotive, electronics, and petrochemicals, Xerox’s localization practice is integrated with other business process outsourcing (BPO) services such as imaging, document archive, and finance and administration (F&A) services.

8. Euroscript S.à r.l. The Euroscript Group is headquartered in Luxembourg with offices in Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, and Switzerland. Euroscript Luxembourg S.à r.l. is a subsidiary of Saarbrücker Zeitung Verlag und Druckerei GmbH; this unit focuses on providing languages services for the European Union. Most of its non-E.U. revenue comes from Germany.

9. Transperfect/Translations. From a dorm room in New York to 29 offices worldwide, executives Liz Elting and Phil Shawe grew these companies organically without taking any prisoners. In 2005 they reunited the two companies after buying out investors. A dominant player in the legal and advertising market, Translations continues its expansion with translation workflow management technology acquired on the cheap from eTranslate.

10. CLS Communication. Switzerland-based CLS grew by incorporating in-house translation departments of Swiss banks and insurance companies. Besides the financial sector, CLS also provides linguistic solutions for the pharmaceutical industry. Last year CLS acquired a financial translations company in the U.K. The company uses a mixture of technology, including machine translation (MT) and business services to solve the linguistic issues of a select client base.


11. Logos Group. What LSPs say will be the future of production is exactly what Logos has been doing for several years. A pioneer in technology solutions that don’t cost an arm and a leg to the client, Logos also gets revenue from publishing magazines and children’s books. Based in Modena (like Ferrari, Luciano Pavarotti, and balsamic vinegar), Logos is a full-scale multi-language provider with clients all over the world.

12. LCJ EEIG. This European Economic Interest Group (hence EEIG) is an association of four companies: Locatech (Germany), Crossgap (Italy), Jonckers (Belgium), and Logoscript (Spain) that got together to become one of the four Premier Vendors for Microsoft. These companies work together on a few projects, but often compete with each other for other jobs.

13. Thebigword. This U.K.-based company is 30 years old, has good technology, good people, and the desire to be big. Thebigword’s clients like the company’s no-nonsense approach to website localization and content management, especially its fast deployment capabilities.

14. Hewlett Packard ACG (HPQ). This twenty-year old division of Hewlett Packard has been providing services to internal and external customers. A new management team spells tough competition coming from Grenoble and leveraging its presence in low-cost labor markets like Slovakia and India.

15. Moravia Worldwide. Fast-paced Czech vendor that only works for banner clients. Its status as a Microsoft Premier Vendor gives Moravia the stability to fund its growth. With new offices in the U.S., Ireland, Japan, and China – in addition to several operations in Eastern Europe – Moravia has developed skills around its QA Sight software testing methodology.

16. TOIN Corporation. Since being founded in 1964 in Japan, TOIN has grown into Asia´s largest localization firm, also offering technical writing services. New management might signal growth in international markets. TOIN’s services include content creation, local marketing adaptation, technical engineering adaptation, and testing. If you go to industry conferences, you know that at least TOIN serves the best sushi.

17. Merrill Brink International. This firm resulted from the 2005 fusion of two Minneapolis companies. Merrill was in the printing business and focused on the legal translations market. P.H. Brink was a traditional localization supplier with an in-house translation workflow management system. The challenge for growth lies in properly leveraging the Merrill sales force.

18. VistaTEC. An Irish powerhouse, VistaTEC was formed by industry veterans and maintains most of its staff in and around Dublin. In addition to localization services, it also provides on-site testing capabilities. Most of its executives are shareholders in the company.

19. Transware. An early player in the e-learning arena, Transware revamped itself in 2005 with new management, a new focus on business process outsourcing (BPO), and new technology from GlobalSight. This acquisition gives Transware the ability to offer end-to-end solutions like most of its larger competitors.

20. McNeil Multilingual. Terrorists watch out! Chances are that your communications in Farsi, Pashto, Dari, Somali, or any other language are being translated by the language group of McNeil Technologies for national intelligence agencies. The company caters to government clients like the United States Department of Defense, State Department, Foreign Service Institute, Defense Language Institute, and other federal and state agencies.

NORTH ATLANTIC FIRMS DOMINATE LANGUAGE SERVICES

Table 1 lists basic information about the 20 largest translation suppliers. Six are from the United States, four from the United Kingdom, two each from Switzerland and Ireland, one each from Italy, Luxembourg, Czech Republic and France, and only one from Asia. The list also includes a consortium of companies with headquarters in Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Spain.

The market capitalization (that is, the total value of a company’s stock) for the public LSPs range from a little less than 0.5 to 1.5 times revenue. The rule-of-thumb valuation for privately held LSPs is between 0.75 and 1.2 times revenue or between four and seven times earnings. We expect these numbers and rankings to change dramatically in the next few years due to continuing consolidation, the ascent of Asian firms serving the booming Chinese market, the likely emergence of dark-horse consolidators, and the entry of offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) specialists such as Tata and Wipro into the market.


Rank Company HQ
Country Revenue in US$M Employees Offices Status
1 Lionbridge Technologies US 377.1 4000 50 Public
2 Titan Corp. US 285.4 n/a n/a Public
3 SDL International UK 146.0 1400 36 Public
4 STAR AG CH 96.0 750 33 Private
5 RWS Group UK 63.4 350 7 Public
6 SDI Media Group US 60.3 200 20 Private
7 Xerox Global Services UK 60.0 200 4 Public
8 Euroscript S.à.r.l. LU 54.5 600 9 Private
9 Transperfect/Translations US 50.2 325 29 Private
10 CLS Communication CH 36.0 260 11 Private
11 Logos Group IT 36.0 150 17 Private
12 LCJ EEIG DE/IT/ BE/SP 21.6 140 9 Private
13 Thebigword UK 20.0 122 7 Private
14 Hewlett-Packard ACG FR 20.0 65 6 Public
15 Moravia CZ 19.0 350 11 Private
16 TOIN JP 19.0 105 5 Private
17 Merrill Brink International US 18.5 120 4 Private
18 VistaTEC IE 18.2 123 3 Private
19 Transware IE 18.0 160 8 Private
20 McNeil Multilingual US 17.2 105 9 Private