Language Support for Mergers and Acquisitions

Companies that undergo an international merger and acquisition (M&A) need reliable language support. Language support for M&A ensures all parties involved understand the deal’s terms and conditions and overall data.

Foreign language translation for M&A is critical when working with international deals. Due diligence for mergers and acquisitions is all about mitigating risk while working to optimize the value of the deal. For M&A deals that involve multiple countries and languages, the complications and risks increase exponentially.

Identifying the need for multilingual documents, materials, and translations as part of the process will significantly reduce the potential risks that come with cross-regional negotiations.

Below, we will discuss the importance of having compliant and certified language support for the vital documentation and multilingual requirements for M&A activities within your organization.

The Risks and Challenges of Cross-Cultural Negotiations

M&A documents can include a variety of technical terms and provisions. “Heavy jargon and regional contextual references can easily get lost in translation and the syntax can often be misconstrued,” comments Jen Farnham, Legal Business Development Director at Park IP, a Welocalize Company.  “As such, you need to ensure timely and accurate language translation and localization of your documents. This should prevent a breakdown of communication, which can sometimes lead to negotiation delays or errors in the auditable documentation.”

The M&A process includes significant risks when you are only working with one language. Multicultural and cross-cultural issues need to be factored into the M&A process as they can significantly impact how teams organize themselves when negotiating a deal.

It’s quite common for M&A transactions to not only cross borders but also cross cultures. A team’s culture can influence how they feel, speak, and conduct themselves. Ensuring that your global business negotiations address these factors is vital, as they will help you avoid potential misunderstandings.

The Importance of Certified Translation for M&A Deals

Certified, comprehensive, multi-language translations for M&A deals are critical, as they uncover relevant content for the parties involved. When managed efficiently, an optimized translation process provided by a trusted language service provider (LSP) can ensure the desired context and value of the deal is maintained.

Very often, there is minimal due diligence or quality control around content that needs to be presented in multiple languages. At present, it’s very common for organizations to use more than one outside counsel, which usually means they will be using more than one LSP, and this can be very detrimental. “You will need to ensure every member of your team is confident that all content is presented with the same level of accuracy and compliance. Streamlining this process through one LSP resolves that issue and will allow for more effective negotiations and decisions,” – Jen Farnham.

Using AI and Human Translators

Translating and localizing M&A can be a complex process, as sometimes the data provided may include language and subject matter that is more technical than general information documents. Language support services that combine artificial intelligence (AI) with human translators provide a solution to enhance and simplify this process.

AI technology with automatic language detection can scan content and identify the language and syntax, ensuring the correct version is provided. For example, there are a variety of Spanish-speaking countries that have different nuances and regional dialects. When creating a document for a company that uses a specific Spanish regional dialect, the correct language pairs must be chosen by the LSP.

Additionally, machine translation (MT) can be an excellent way to determine the overall content and pertinence of your data. This will allow your team to have internal accounts of the word count, file count, and relevant metadata of each document. Not only does this significantly speed up the initial discovery and review phase, but it considerably reduces the cost for translations as well. Using MT will allow you to first determine what is relevant, while certified, human translation will provide you with accurate and auditable content for your negotiations and discussions.

Benefits of LSPs for Cross-Cultural M&A Deals

You should always partner with a language expert who has experience translating the content and subject matter you wish to review. And it’s also imperative to ensure the finalized document is certified and auditable in the case of litigation.

“The finished translation should include a Certificate of Accuracy, as that is often required by the regulatory bodies. Be wary of FIPO (for information purpose only) quotes that do not include full QA, proofreading, or certification. These will be less expensive to process, but they will not provide you with the confidence and certainty that the translation is correct and may not prepare your legal team effectively for various matters,” adds Ms. Farnham.

Many in-house translators lack the specific expertise necessary to translate documents for M&A. Additionally, some may not have the resources and time to translate the required documents accurately.

This is why more businesses are using LSPs, as they have the resources and experience to efficiently translate and localize M&A documents. Today, most LSPs will work with subject matter experts, experienced linguists, comprehensive glossaries, and AI via machine learning to provide an integrated approach to cross-cultural M&A deals. Even if the initial document is very large, an LSP can assist with this directly as they can acquire additional resources needed for the client. Their ability to quickly scale up their workforce to meet tight deadlines and client demand is also very beneficial.

The Bottom Line About Language Support for M&A

In highly regulated industries that are heavily audited and subject to a multitude of laws and regulations, having subpar translations leaves you open to the possibility of fines and investigations.

To ensure your business matters are protected and accurately negotiated, you need to be certain that each document is translated precisely in accordance with the language syntax and nuance.

Are you looking for powerful, professional content translation, localization, and adaptation services for your cross-border M&A deals? Contact Welocalize for more information.