Language and culture supports M&A, partnerships and franchises

Successful cross-border and multinational mergers and acquisitions (M&A) relies on effective understanding and communication across all parties, no matter the region or spoken language of the parties to the deal. At Today Advisory, we have more than a decade of experience in providing professional, ISO-accredited translation services for M&A professionals, including private equity firms, corporate buyers and legal advisors.

The amount of translation work required to successfully execute mergers and acquisitions in foreign countries depends on a number of factors. These include:

• The political and economic risk ranking of the country where the deal is to be done.
• Whether the acquirer is using a Global Legal and Accounting firm, or local professionals for due diligence and deal administration.
• The proportion of due diligence being done by the acquiring company instead of advisors.
• The complexity of the business being acquired, in terms of corporate structure, ownership, fixed assets and operations.
• Whether Key Staff are being retained within the business after acquisition and whether they are critical to the integration and ongoing success of the business.
• Whether the deal is competitive or sole-bidder.
• The assessed value of Warranties and Representations from the vendors of the business; in other words, if claims are made against warranties will the vendor be able and willing to pay?
• The volumes of Red Flags or subsequent actions that are generated during the due diligence process and require investigation.

The list above is not exhaustive and each deal needs to be considered individually. A list of the minimum documents that Today Advisory would expect to see translated can be found here.

Should the acquiring company be able to rely on its advisers to carry out the due diligence process thoroughly and competently, and to bear financial responsibility for any errors or omissions, then the translation requirements can be cut back to the agreed list that the Purchaser wishes to have checked by its Management. Today Advisory maintains that in every case the Sale and Purchase Agreement should be translated in full so that the Directors and Officers of the Purchaser can be certain they are meeting their fiduciary responsibilities.