If you’re an LSP considering M&A, the first decision isn’t “sell or buy.”
It’s “who will guide me?”
Pick right, and you create options, competition, and value. Pick wrong, and you lose time, leverage, and sometimes your company’s story.
Below is a pragmatic guide, in plain language, on why the right consultant matters, what “right” looks like, and how to tell the difference.
1. One captain. Not a committee.
Deals attract advisors. Bankers. Lawyers. Tax. Technical due diligence. Integration. All important. But who’s your deal captain, the advisor who owns the process, sequencing, and narrative?
Research in Harvard Business Review shows that using one primary M&A advisor correlates with better outcomes than using none, and better than piling on several. More advisors can add friction and dilute accountability. You want a lead who orchestrates specialists, not a crowd of equals pulling in different directions. (hbr.org)
What good looks like: one accountable lead with a clear playbook; specialists plugged in on demand (legal, tax, tech, integration), but one person is responsible for momentum and decisions.
2. Preparation beats promotion
Great consultants don’t “shop your company” first. They prepare it first. That means cleaning the numbers, exposing risk before buyers do, and building a credible growth and synergy story—especially around AI, tooling, and regulated workflows in our industry.
Sell-side preparation is not cosmetic. PwC’s global divestment research links sell-side due diligence and a formal value-creation approach with higher value and fewer surprises. In short: do the hard work early to preserve competitive tension later. (PwC)
For LSPs: standardize revenue recognition (by client/vertical/service), separate COGS properly (linguists, engineering, testing), document AI/MT workflows and compliance proofs (GDPR, ISO, SOC where relevant). The right consultant will insist.
3. Market-making, not matchmaking
Beware the pitch that starts with “I already have the perfect buyer.” One buyer = no market = weak terms.
The right advisor runs a structured process: teaser, anonymized profile, synchronized NDAs, and multiple parallel conversations. That’s how you discover true value and better structures (earn-outs you can actually hit, integration paths that protect delivery).
This is standard across mature M&A markets and shows up in leading sell-side playbooks from top firms. Their logic is simple: competition surfaces price and terms; single-tracked deals destroy leverage. (PwC)
In the language industry: specialized advisors know the active buyers (strategics, private equity platforms, and tech-led acquirers) and how they evaluate LSP assets—vertical depth, customer concentration, AI readiness, and delivery resilience.
4. Numbers that stand up in diligence
Most deals don’t fail in the pitch room. They fail in diligence or integration. McKinsey has long argued that poor diligence often misses the roadmap to capture synergies; later, integration teams struggle to realize value. Translation: don’t sell a dream; sell a plan you can execute. (McKinsey & Company)
A strong consultant will:
- Pressure-test your revenue quality (recurring vs. project, by client and vertical).
- Address client concentration risk (no single client >15% is a common threshold for comfort).
- Convert your pipeline into ratios buyers trust (lead→qual→proposal→win, by segment).
- Document AI/MT productivity and quality controls with evidence, not adjectives.
These are the spine of your data room.
5. Integration is part of the price
Value isn’t created at signing. It’s created in integration. The right consultant thinks about day-90 on day-0: leadership continuity, delivery stability, and synergy capture.
McKinsey notes that top integration programs identify value beyond initial diligence—30–150% more in some cases—when they plan and govern integration correctly. (McKinsey & Company)
For LSPs: integration risk is people + process. Protect key PMs, linguist networks, and engineering leads with clear roles and stay bonuses. Show how platforms (TMS, QA, connectors) will converge without breaking SLAs.
6. Sector fluency matters (a lot)
M&A is not generic. In the language industry, buyers care about different proof points: regulated content track record, terminology risk controls, AI governance, multi-locale release readiness, and interpreter networks. Choose an advisor who already speaks our language and knows who’s buying what and why.
Look to sector sources for context. The EU-backed ELIS 2025 report and coverage of its results confirm an industry in flux, with AI adoption accelerating and smaller LSCs under pressure—exactly the backdrop shaping buyer behavior. Houlihan Lokey’s sector updates also show active consolidation across translation/localization and language tech. An advisor who tracks these currents will position you intelligently. (European Commission)
7. Reality check: timing and readiness
Bain’s longitudinal work shows that companies with repeatable M&A muscles outperform; they plan, run tight processes, and integrate with discipline. If you’re selling, you still benefit from that discipline by borrowing it from the right consultant. And Bain’s annual reports make clear that dealmaking evolves with conditions; preparation and selectivity matter more when markets get picky. (Bain)
Practical takeaway: if you’re pivoting to a productized, process-led model, you likely need two clean financial years under that model to command a stronger price. A good consultant will tell you not to rush—and will map what “clean” means for your P&L and KPIs.
8. How to choose (a simple scorecard)
a) Industry fit. Have they closed or run live processes in language services or adjacent content/tech? Ask for references and outcomes. (Look for evidence, not anecdotes.) (Houlihan Lokey)
b) Process clarity. Ask for their sell-side or buy-side playbook, end-to-end. Who does what, when? How do they maintain competitive tension? (PwC)
c) Diligence spine. Can they help build a data room that anticipates buyer questions (financial, commercial, operational, legal)? Do they run sell-side diligence to avoid surprises? (PwC)
d) Integration lens. How will they frame people, systems, and synergy capture for buyers? Who leads Day-1/Day-90? (McKinsey & Company)
e) Right size, right attention. You should be neither their smallest nor their largest mandate—enough focus, enough clout. (HBR’s finding on “one lead advisor” supports resisting advisor bloat.) (hbr.org)
9. Red flags
- “I have one perfect buyer.” (No market = no leverage.)
- “Let’s go to market now; we’ll fix the numbers later.” (Buyers will “fix” your price instead.)
- “Integration is their problem.” (It becomes your earn-out problem.)
Conclusion
M&A is a system. The right consultant gives you architecture, discipline, and an honest mirror. In the language industry—where AI, compliance, and buyer consolidation are rewriting rules—that choice is not administrative. It is strategic.
If you invest in one thing before you “go to market,” invest in who takes you there.
Sources and further reading
- Harvard Business Review — “Research: How Many M&A Advisors Do You Really Need?” (Dec 15, 2022). Insight: one primary advisor outperforms none; piling on advisors can backfire. (hbr.org)
- PwC — Creating Value Beyond the Deal. Evidence that sell-side diligence and a formal value-creation method correlate with better outcomes. (PwC)
- McKinsey — Integration and value capture. Integration planning identifies additional synergy value beyond due diligence; diligence often misses the roadmap if done poorly. (McKinsey & Company)
- Bain & Company — Annual M&A reports and mid-year updates on how disciplined dealmakers create value across cycles. (Bain)
- ELIS 2025 (EU-backed) — Current trends in the European language industry; context for LSP deal narratives in 2025. (European Commission)
- Houlihan Lokey — Language Services & Technology sector updates showing ongoing consolidation and buyer activity. (Houlihan Lokey)
