D.A. Languages provides face-to-face interpreting, telephone interpreting, court and legal interpreting and translation services. The company works with public sector organizations including the Courts, NHS, Police, Local Councils and Government agencies, and its clients include The British Red Cross, Southampton City Council, and Central Manchester University Hospitals.
UK-based Foresight Group has GBP 2.7bn of assets under management, of which GBP 350m are in private equity investments. The Group’s Regional Investment Fund (FRIF), which has invested in D.A. Languages, manages a sector-agnostic portfolio that includes investments in companies as diverse as Clubhouse Golf, Tudor Contract Cleaning and restaurant chain Mowgli, among others.
The Fund typically invests between GBP 1m and 5m into companies in North West UK and its target companies are SME’s with revenues of GBP 2m to 30m, and a minimum EBITDA of GBP 0.5m. The FRIF has now invested “£22 million into smaller growth businesses across the region” (North West England), with several more investments in the pipeline.
D.A. Languages has not disclosed revenue figures but is thought to generate less than GBP 10.2m, since it qualified for the UK’s audit exemption for small companies (i.e. it is not required to file its full annual report publicly). Based on regulatory filings, it would appear that the investment in D.A. Languages is not a management buy-out, and that founder Actar Arya has retained a majority stake in the company.
Foresight is just the latest in a string of private equity firms to demonstrate strong interest in the language industry, and many of the top LSPs in the Slator Language Service Provider Index, such as Lionbridge, Welocalize and Technicis Group, are part or 100% PE-owned.
Slator reached out to D.A. Languages to discuss the investment, but the company declined to comment.
