Advising a leading private equity firm on the majority acquisition of a European LSI

The Mandate

London-based Bridgepoint Group is one of Europe’s leading private equity firms, with USD 98bn of assets under management. It specialises in private equity, infrastructure, credit, secondaries and private wealth with an emphasis on mid-market investing.

Its private equity team focuses on advanced industrials, business and financial services, and healthcare verticals.

Slator’s Role

According to LanguageWire’s then CEO, Bridgepoint had observed the market for language solutions for a while and contacted LanguageWire in 2021 through LanguageWire’s former majority shareholder CataCap.

Slator carried out commercial and technical due diligence of LanguageWire for Bridgepoint Group. Bridgepoint pursued the acquisition of the Denmark-based company, marking CataCap’s exit from its investment in LanguageWire.

The Outcome

Bridgepoint announced its acquisition of LanguageWire in Q3 2021, through Bridgepoint Development Capital — the investment vehicle for the PE firm’s mid-market strategy — and fund BDC IV.

Johan Dahlfors, Partner at Bridgepoint Development Capital, told Slator that “Bridgepoint will engage as an active majority shareholder, joining the board of directors and engaging in strategic value-adding initiatives.”

“Tech-enabled players of scale will be well-positioned to take an increasingly larger share of the overall market, while more traditional service providers will likely find it more challenging to compete.” — Johan Dahlfors, Partner, Bridgepoint Development Capital