RWS of the UK is to acquire Czech translation company Moravia IT for $320mn, the British company said on October 18. 

The Brno-based firm is a supplier to IBM, Oracle, Micro­soft and other corporations and is currently majority-held by Clarion Capital of the US. It acquired its stake in Moravia IT in February 2015, reportedly for approximately CZK1bn ($37.5mn).

“We are delighted to announce the proposed acquisition of Moravia which will greatly increase our exposure to the high growth technology sector, will add a third market leading business of scale to the Group and will extend our global presence,” RWS chairman Andrew Brode said in a statement. 

“Its focus on addressing its clients’ large, complex and time-critical localisation requirements across more than 160 languages and multiple platforms will be an excellent fit alongside our existing market leading intellectual property and life sciences services.”

Moravia IT’s revenue in 2016 was $159.2mn. Its website states that the enterprise’s focus in the digital age is helping to “get translation and localisation right”.

“It’s imperative if you’re a large global company, because international revenue may well make up more than half of your revenue. That means going further by developing products and services specifically tailored to your local customers,” reads the company’s promotional text.

Following the deal, Moravia will operate as an autonomous division of RWS, continuing to focus on providing specialized globalisation services, digital marketing and outsourcing services to the world’s blue-chip, high-growth companies, according to a statement from the Czech company. 

RWS says it is the world leader in translation, intellectual property, life sciences and language support services. Among its services are language in localisation, patent translation and filing, translations for the life sciences industry and interpreting.