LIVEWORDS acquired by ACOLAD

Acolad group finalized the 100% acquisition of the Dutch company Livewords from the private equity fund Bencis, which had held the asset since spring 2016. This major cross-border build-up transaction enables the acquirer to establish a direct presence in the Netherlands by absorbing the target’s three local offices and 180 employees. Financially, this combination propels the group past the symbolic milestone of 1,000 employees worldwide, with a projected pro forma revenue of over €160 million for the year 2019, significantly scaling up from the €37 million revenue recorded by Livewords in 2018. The strategic industrial rationale of the transaction is anchored in strong commercial complementarities. Livewords brings extensive expertise in the interpretation segment—accounting for 45% of its total revenue, whereas interpretation represented only 5% of Acolad's business—along with proprietary software tools such as Livewords GO and Livewords Flow. To fund this large-scale acquisition, the buyer secured an additional unitranche debt investment from its existing lender Idinvest, supported by Barings. Concurrently, Acolad’s majority shareholder Naxicap is running a separate auction process managed by Lazard to sell its stake, an upcoming corporate transition in which the management team led by CEO Benjamin du Fraysseix is expected to reinvest significantly.