For immediate release 1 May 2013
RWS Holdings plc
£2.3m Acquisition of UK Specialist Translations Business
RWS Holdings plc ("RWS", "the Group"), Europe's leading provider of intellectual property support services (patent translations and technical searches) and commercial translations, is pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of PharmaQuest Limited ("PharmaQuest") for a cash consideration of £2.3 million.
The acquisition is in line with RWS' stated strategy of complementing organic growth with the deployment of the Group's cash resources for selective acquisitions which have demonstrable growth prospects, offer excellent margins and can enhance shareholder value.
PharmaQuest specialises in providing high quality translation and linguistic validation of patient reported outcome measures resulting from clinical trials conducted globally. The company is believed to be the only company worldwide specialising in this field. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in Oxfordshire, employing seven people. Customers include pharmaceutical companies, clinical research organisations and academia.
PharmaQuest's latest financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2013 show turnover of £1.4 million and adjusted profit before tax of £600,000. Net assets acquired were less than £100,000. The acquisition will be immediately earnings enhancing.
Andrew Brode, Executive Chairman of RWS commented:
"We are pleased to have acquired PharmaQuest, whose progress we have monitored for several years. It is an attractive business with excellent margins and good growth prospects in a rapidly expanding, specialist sector. It will immediately enhance RWS Group earnings and further strengthen our position as a leading provider of commercial and medical translations.
"We look forward to growing PharmaQuest, with the benefit of the Group's infrastructure and marketing resources, and to broadening our market share in the medical and pharmaceutical industries."
- ends -
For further information contact:
RWS Holdings plc
Andrew Brode, Executive Chairman 01753 480200
MHP
Katie Hunt/Simon Hockridge 020 3128 8794
Numis
Stuart Skinner (Nominated Adviser) 020 7260 1000
James Serjeant (Corporate Broker)
About RWS:
RWS is the world's leading provider of patent translations and one of Europe's leading players in the provision of intellectual property support services and high level technical, medical, commercial, legal and financial translation services. Specialist divisions provide for the diverse needs of a blue-chip multinational client base from Europe, North America and Asia in the aerospace, automotive, chemical, defence, electronics, financial, insurance, legal, medical, pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries. RWS is based in the UK, with offices in Europe, New York, Tokyo and Beijing, and is listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (RWS.L).
RWS also has a one third interest in inovia Holdings Pty Limited which is headquartered in New York and is the largest non-law firm provider of international patent filing solutions globally. Its patented, web-based technology provides over 1000 law firm and corporate clients with cost effective processing of international patent applications, typically producing cost savings in excess of 30%. From its locations in the US, Australia and Europe, its patent filing service covers 62 jurisdictions in 84 countries.
Over 2,000,000 patent applications are filed per annum. Applications filed in Europe have more than doubled in the last ten years to 258,000 applications in 2012 (source: European Patent Office), a 5.24% increase from 2011. Applications from Asia have also seen significant recent growth.
For further information please visit: www.rws.com
