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CMS advises RWS on two acquisitions

10 June 2020

International law firm CMS has advised RWS Holdings plc (RWS), one of the world's leading language, intellectual property support services and localisation providers, on its acquisitions of (i) Iconic Translation Machines, Ltd (Iconic), for US$10m with additional deferred consideration of up to US$10m in RWS shares subject to future performance, and (ii) Webdunia.com (India) Private Limited (Webdunia), for US$21m.

Based in Ireland, Iconic specialises in developing neural machine translation (NMT) solutions adapted for specific industries and blue-chip clients. Iconic has previously worked with the RWS Life Sciences division to help deliver NMT solutions to RWS’s pharmaceutical clients. The acquisition will enable RWS to leverage language technology to build on its high-quality standards and service delivery, and to strengthen its service-offering capabilities in the NMT sector. Iconic will form a new vertical language technology business within RWS which will be led by Iconic’s co-founders, Dr John Tinsley and Dr Páraic Sheridan.

With over 600 employees, and offices in India, Thailand and the US, Webdunia is a leader in translation, localisation and technology services to technology and digital companies in the Indian and North American markets. Its acquisition will complement RWS's existing Moravia business and digital technology services, helping grow its Indian-based translation and localisation market share whilst supporting the growth of its customers in India.

Nick Crosbie, Corporate partner at CMS, comments: “RWS has established itself as a world leader in its field through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions. As a firm, CMS is well placed to advise on international, cross-border transactions such as these and it has been our pleasure to support our long standing and valued client RWS on both acquisitions. We look forward to seeing their long-term ambitions realised.”

Joe Lugo, COO at RWS adds: “We are pleased to have worked with the CMS team – they have adeptly managed every step. These acquisitions will enhance our progress in the Asia Pacific region as well as strengthen our machine translation capabilities to the benefit of all our clients.”

The CMS team on both acquisitions was led by Nick Crosbie and supported by Rupert Jackson, Mark Joscelyne and Robert Sartor.

Internationally, CMS’s Corporate team comprises more than 1,000 lawyers across 72 offices worldwide, with 70 partners and over 250 lawyers based in the UK. In 2019, Mergermarket named the firm mid-market legal adviser of the year (for deals up to £1bn) in their annual European M&A awards, and Bloomberg also ranked CMS #1 for M&A in both the UK and in Europe.