Cavendish

£25 million sale of Language Line

Cavendish Corporate Finance and ISIS Equity Partners ('ISIS') are pleased to announce the sale of Language Line, the UK's leading provider of telephone interpretation service, in a deal worth £25m.

The business has been sold by ISIS to Language Line Inc ('LLI'), a non-related third party that provides similar services in the North American market. The sale has generated a significant return for ISIS of 2.2 times the original cost, producing an IRR of more than 40%.

Following an introduction by Cavendish Corporate Finance, ISIS invested in Language Line in August 2003, leading a £15m secondary buyout from ECI. ISIS then undertook a successful restructuring of the management team which included the appointment of ISIS Operating Partner Ian Williamson as chairman.

Language Line International approached ISIS with an offer to purchase the Language Line UK business in August 2005. Isis appointed Cavendish to assist with the negotiation and manage the process to completion.

Ian Williamson, chairman of Language Line commented: ''ISIS recognised that the market in which Language Line operates was changing quickly. We had built a team that could take advantage of the massive potential volume growth in a rapidly changing environment. The sale to LLI gives Language Line an opportunity to exploit that potential and continue its significant growth''.

[Paul Herman] of Cavendish commented: ''We remained close with the team at ISIS who were responsible for the Language Line transaction throughout their period of ownership. We were delighted to have the opportunity to add value even once an approach had been made. As with any sale exercise, it was important for us to create some form of tension to ensure that the purchaser delivered along the lines of the deal that was ultimately negotiated.''

Dennis Dracup, President & CEO of LLI commented: ''I am very excited by the opportunity to leverage the expertise from the combined organizations. Our clients will benefit from enhanced language support solutions, enabling them to increase revenue and meet regulatory requirements as we leverage our global capacity and infrastructure.''

Legal advice on the transaction was provided by Olswang

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