Published: Mar 02, 2010
Focus:
Growth Capital
Funding to support Applied Language Solutions’ future growth and development plans
Maven Capital Partners (“Maven”) as joint manager of the Capital for Enterprise Fund (“CfE Fund”) has today announced its investment of up to £1.4m in Applied Language Solutions, a leading UK based language services provider.
The £75 million CfE Fund is a Government backed initiative launched in 2009 to help small and medium size enterprises (“SMEs”) in the UK gain access to the financial support required to bridge the funding gap caused by the credit crisis. In April 2009, it was announced that £60 million from the CfE Fund would be allocated to two separate £30 million funds, one of which is managed by Maven. A further £15 million is being managed as a co-investment fund by Capital for Enterprise Fund Managers.
The investment made by the CfE Fund will support Applied Language Solutions’ development plans as one of the leading and fastest growing translation, proof reading and interpreting service providers in the world.
Applied Language Solutions was established in 2003 by Chief Executive, Gavin Wheeldon. The business employs over 100 staff across 11 offices in nine countries. The global nature of its operations gives 24 hour world-wide coverage, meaning customers; including Google, Caterpillar, GE and the NHS have access to Applied Language Solutions’ services at any time of the day. Applied Language Solutions has access to over 16,500 in-country linguists globally, covering more than 150 different languages.
Gavin Wheeldon Chief Executive of Applied Language Solutions, said, "This investment will allow us to implement our strategic growth plan, which will take us into several new geographic territories in the coming months. To do this we will increase our sales presence both in existing offices and through additional recruitment in other countries, which will enable us to target growth markets, such as South America and Asia more effectively. The CfE fund’s investment was ideal for Applied Language Solutions and the team at Maven has been extremely supportive of our plans, we look forward to showing them the results of the investment in the coming months.”
Ryan Bevington, Senior Investment Manager at Maven, said, “Applied Language Solutions is an excellent business, providing high quality translation and interpreting services to an impressive client base. Chief Executive, Gavin Wheeldon and the management team have exciting plans for the business and Maven is delighted to be able to provide this investment from the CfE Fund to help the team achieve their strategic vision. This again demonstrates the value of the CfE fund in supporting ambitious UK businesses like Applied Language Solutions.”
Key professionals involved in this transaction included
- Maven Capital Partners – Ryan Bevington, Jonty Hall
- DLA Piper, Manchester – Yunus Maka, Sara Levy (Maven Legals)
- Hammonds, Leeds – Jonathan Jones, Tom Telford (Applied Language Solutions’ Legals)
- PKF, Leeds – Mark Lister, Paul Airey (Financial Due Diligence)
- Oxygen Insurance Brokers, Glasgow – Jim Rutherford (Insurance Due Diligence)
- Armstrong Craven, Manchester – Helen Ryan (Management Referencing)
