About LSP Growth
LSP Growth is the result of a lifetime of work in the translation industry — it’s the pinnacle of a collection of experiences that have signaled my years as a translator but most of all, as a translation company owner. It is also my opportunity to share the knowledge I’ve capitalized on over the years with other translation company owners that are looking for advice on how to design and execute growth strategies for their business.
Roberto Ganzerli
M&A Advisor | Language Industry Expert
My first Merger. The origins of Arancho.
Merger with a Czech translation company.
Acquisition of a small LSP based in Switzerland.
Acquisition of an LSP based in northern Italy.
Sale of Arancho Doc to Technicis (now Acolad).
My M&A Roadmap
The Early Stages
I founded my first translation company in 1983 in a small town in northen Italy, the same year I graduated as a translator. I still smile when I look back at those days because translation as a profession was radically different than it is now. I didn’t live close to my clients, which meant that without computers or the internet, I spent most of my time driving in order to deliver translations on time — the same concept of turnaround times under totally different circumstances. Translation as a business was going to be more profitable in the city.
The First Merger
Diving into Business Management
In 1996, after a long meeting, we decided that one of us had to learn how to manage Arancho. I volunteered for the job and ventured into the world of business management. My first big revelation was understanding that a company is an entity on its own, that needs to be managed meticulously. That’s when I stopped identifying myself with Arancho.
Growing and Expanding
Thinking strategically about our business plan was really the turning point. As the company grew, we decided it was time to expand internationally. We founded our Spanish company in 2001, then merged two more times, the first with a Finnish company in 2004, the second with a Czech LSP in 2009. In less than a decade, Arancho had established offices in 4 countries and gained international visibility.
My Most Important Merger
We could have stopped right there, we were already growing fast and had become a profitable company. However, in 2010, after just a few months of negotiations, we merged with another Italian translation company and rebranded as Arancho Doc — blending the names of the two. Once the post-merger integration process was successfully completed, we acquired another small LSP based in Switzerland in 2012.
Stepping Aside
I served as the CEO of Arancho Doc until 2015, which is when I realized the company had become too big for me to manage. It was time for me to step aside, so I hired a younger CEO and took on the role of Chief Strategy Officer. Now that somebody was running the company ‒ probably better than I used to ‒ I could go back to thinking about goals, needs, and long-term growth strategies.
Selling to the Right Buyer
In the spring of 2017, after having acquired yet another company in Italy, we got approached by a large Multilingual Language Vendor (MLV) that was interested in buying Arancho Doc. The buyer – Technicis (rebranded as Acolad) – was the perfect fit and had a great vision for the future. In June 2017, we sold Arancho Doc and became part of Technicis.
Later in 2017, I left Technicis and took a sabbatical year. It was time for me to wrap up a very long chapter of my professional career, recharge my batteries, and think about what I wanted to do next.
The language industry is constantly changing, with many young and vibrant players wanting to succeed in a highly competitive market. While most of them are very good at providing language services, some may benefit from professional help on how to best manage and plan the future of their companies.
That's our business mission.
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