Clearwater has advised Mayfair Equity Partners on raising debt facilities to support the majority acquisition of Jonckers, a leading tech-enabled language services provider, and to accelerate growth.
Founded in 1994, Jonckers is a leading LSP that employs over 150 people across the UK, US, EU, and Asia and has a longstanding, global blue chip client base including Microsoft, Adobe, and Amazon. The company is led by Silke Zschweigert (CEO) and Dominic Kinnon (COO), who joined in 2019 and have over four decades of language services industry experience between them. Under their leadership, Jonckers has delivered substantial top and bottom-line growth, providing translation services across Europe and Asia, while rapidly expanding in its largest market, North America.
Jonckers’ growth has been driven by its proprietary technology platform WordsOnline, which utilises AI-powered processes to translate content five times faster and at half the cost of traditional translation services. WordsOnline is disrupting the LSP market and is part of a broader trend where the adoption of AI and an increasing demand for localised content are creating favourable sector tailwinds. Current estimates are that the LSP industry is growing at 6% per annum and is expected to reach a value of c.£64bn (c.$80 bn) by 2025.
Working in close partnership, Jonckers and Mayfair will focus on a number of value accretive growth opportunities including investment in product and technology innovation, driving commercial and customer success, and growing Jonckers’ international presence. Mayfair and Jonckers also see an opportunity for the Company to become a consolidator in the industry and are seeking exciting bolt-on acquisitions to diversify Jonckers’ service offering and market reach.
