RWS has agreed to acquire Acogroup, the Paris-based parent of language and content services provider Acolad, in a deal it says will bring its AI platforms to a substantially larger European enterprise client base.
The AIM-quoted group is paying total consideration of £40.2 million, including £17.8 million of cash acquired at completion, giving an enterprise value of £22.4 million, around 2x Acolad’s adjusted EBITDA to September 2027, with no third-party debt coming across.
Acolad brings genuine scale. Founded in 1995 and operating across 22 countries, the business generated revenues of £182 million and adjusted EBITDA of £13 million in 2025, employs around 1,200 people, and works with approximately half of the CAC 40.
RWS is using the deal to leverage its existing technology offering and reach a broader offering.
The group plans to push its Cultural Intelligence Layer, Language Weaver Pro and next-generation Transform platforms into Acolad’s client base, applying what it calls its proven technology playbook to a new pool of European enterprise relationships.
Around half of Acolad’s revenues come from regulated industries, including an established medical devices business that sits neatly alongside RWS’s pharmaceutical strength in life sciences.
The deal also adds interpreting capability to the RWS portfolio and opens cross-sell opportunities for its Generate and Protect solutions.
Completion is expected in the first half of RWS’s 2027 financial year at the latest, subject to French regulatory clearances and consultation with Acolad’s French works councils, during which RWS has been granted exclusivity.