The Acolad Group Acquires Livewords

After a major rebranding which affected 9 of the group's 12 brands last January, Acolad (formerly Technicis) is pursuing its leadership objectives with the acquisition of Livewords. Thanks to this ninth acquisition, the group has passed the symbolic threshold of 1,000 employees and forecasts a turnover of more than 160 million euros for the year 2019.

In addition to its leading position in the strategic market of the Netherlands, Livewords brings to the Acolad group an advanced expertise in interpreting, with 45% of its activity dedicated to this service. Livewords also enriches the group with proprietary technologies: Livewords GO, a real time interpreting app, as well as Livewords Flow, a translation management plug-in that integrates with CMS and PIM systems.

Livewords is the Netherlands’ biggest Language Solution Provider and offers professional translation and interpreting services to businesses in the Benelux region. The company, formerly known as Concorde group, recorded a turnover of €37m in 2018. Having acquired the cloud translation platform Livewords back in 2016, the group continued its growth with the acquisitions of BB&TW (April 2017), Words at work (July 2017), Engels & Partners (February 2018), Balance Translations (May 2018), Metamorfose (June 2018) and Walker Language Consultancy (December 2018) before being acquired itself by the Acolad Group. By joining the Group, Livewords will benefit from Acolad’s knowledge of the translation market, as well as from its international presence and extensive know-how.

• Livewords has 178 employees and over 1,000 customer accounts globally.
• Livewords has offices in Amstelveen, Maastricht and Utrecht.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with Acolad” says Livewords CEO Alexandra Hubar. “In this partnership we can exercise our ambition to grow and truly become a market leader in Europe. The transition will enable us to achieve our shared vision for the industry more rapidly. With combined professional competence, resources and the latest innovative tools, Livewords will be able to respond faster and more effectively to the growing and increasingly complex needs of our clients.”

Livewords is Acolad’s ninth acquisition since 2012, the year the Group launched its strategy for external growth. V.O. Paris joined the Group first, followed by Cogen (2015), Translation Probst (2016), Arancho Doc (2017) and, more recently, TextMaster, the specialist in cloud-based professional translation solutions, as well as HL TRAD, Telelingua and AAC Global (2018) before the Group changed its name from Technicis to Acolad.

The Acolad Group currently has over 850 employees worldwide as well as a solid international presence, with offices throughout Europe (France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the UK), North America (Canada and the United States) and Asia (China). The Group has recorded a 2018 turnover of €117 million and has established itself amongst the leading international agencies in the professional translation industry.