Summa Linguae Buys Kommunicera to Mark its Presence in Scandinavia

Last Updated November 19, 2018

The Polish language and technology service provider acquires Kommunicera, a Sweden-based localization company.

The acquisition was a natural step for Summa Linguae Technologies after naming Scandinavia as one of its target markets. Kommunicera is the third international M&A transaction conducted by Summa Linguae.

“Both Summa Linguae and Kommunicera are very customer-oriented and share a common vision. That’s to leverage technology and language to help businesses and organizations around the globe facilitate multilingual communication. We knew immediately that we are a perfect match,” says Krzysztof Zdanowski, CEO and founder of Summa Linguae.

Zdanowski also admits that Summa Linguae was on the lookout for a tech-savvy company that would complement its client’s portfolio. The Polish company has been focusing on e-commerce and IT industries, so there was an extensive cross and up-sell potential in Kommunicera. It offers a set of own customized API integrations streamlining MT and localization processes within their clients’ workflows.

Additionally, there has been a noticeable growth in demand for localization services in Scandinavian languages. Those two factors — focus on technology and access to language resources — were crucial for closing the deal.

A Change for Kommunicera – Why now?

“Summa Linguae is the perfect match in terms of the core values, innovative, client-centered approach and personal chemistry. We like to see the obvious synergies. We firmly believe that the acquisition will bring a new energy to the company and will result in stronger offering for existing and new customers,” comments Johan Laestadius, former CEO and founder of Kommunicera.

Kommunicera’s current managing partners, Johan Laestadius and Maare Tomson Ollin, will retire after a short transition period.

Summa Linguae has also appointed Lea Backhurst as the new Managing Director for Nordic operations. He is a renowned leader with 25 years of experience in the language industry:

“Kommunicera is already a go-to brand. They’ve been particularly successful in providing integration solutions for the booming Nordic e-commerce sector. Adding the technology that Summa Linguae brings, we will start the journey beyond traditional translation services and platforms,” says Backhurst.

Lea Backhurst will work closely with Sara Lindqvist, the new Nordics Operations Manager. Lindqvist, who has 16 years of experience in the language industry, was already working as the right hand of Kommunicera’s owners, and was happy to accept the new role:

“It was very clear from the beginning, that our new partners want to embrace our differences and build something very strong in terms of business culture, work ethics and value proposition. I’m looking forward to start working with people from around the world and co-creating tech-oriented global organization,” says Lindqvist.

What This Means for Summa Linguae

Following this acquisition, Summa Linguae’s consolidated revenue will grow up to USD 12m for 2018. The combined headcount is 140 people working in 7 offices in Europe (Krakow, Bucharest, Goteborg, Helsinki, Copenhagen, and Oslo) and India (Bangalore).

The price of the acquisition was 17,5mln SEK (app. USD 2m) that Summa Linguae funded with own funds and a portion of the new debt.

Kommunicera will therefore operate under the Summa Linguae Technologies brand.

“So far, we’ve managed six Polish and two international M&As (Kommunicera will be the third), and we’ve learned that synergies should be achieved on more than just financial ground. Our brand and identity strongly connect to the values we work by. It’s extremely important for us to share them with the Scandinavian teams,” said Zdanowski.

A New Name: Summa Linguae Technologies

“We began as a language service provider, but to stay competitive, we have started offering solutions rather than services. And these solutions became technology solutions. So, we have become a technology company rather than a service company, and this needs to be reflected in our brand.

“We are therefore proud to announce Summa Linguae Technologies. We’re a technology-focused localization company that serves global businesses with a need for practical innovation. The focus now is on setting new standards in our industry,” sums up Krzysztof Zdanowski.

Summa Linguae Technologies will continue to base its value proposition on technology, mainly blockchain, AI, and NLP.

We’re also actively looking to acquire or merge with a US/Canada based LSP, ideally in the size of USD 7-10m in revenue.

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