Welocalize, global leader in innovative translation and localization solutions, has acquired Global Language Solutions (GLS), the market leader for more than 22 years in expert life science language services.

The acquisition of Global Language Solutions grows the multinational client portfolio and pointedly expands Welocalize industry-specific language services in life sciences, legal, regulatory and compliance, government and healthcare. This is the third major acquisition for Welocalize in regulated industries, which is preceded by the 2012 acquisition of Park IP Translations and 2016 acquisition of Europe-based Nova, a Welocalize company.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, Global Language Solutions is supported by a valuable network of more than 2,500 specialized life science and healthcare linguists delivering quality-centric solutions to global brand leaders in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical devices and healthcare.

Founded in 1994, Global Language Solutions provides dedicated translation and localization services for all aspects of global clinical trials, patient recruitment and retention, medical device and pharmaceutical documentation, linguistic validation, healthcare and medical provider materials, as well as expert compliance, marketing and interpretation capabilities. Headquartered in North America, GLS also has operations Latin America, Europe and Asia.

"I am very excited given our acquisition of GLS following our acquisition of Nova earlier this year, as it creates a life sciences powerhouse with more than $30 million in revenue," said Smith Yewell, CEO and co-founder of Welocalize. "This development is even more exciting in the context of our ability to service our life sciences clients' complete globalization journey, from intellectual property protection through our Park IP division, to clinical trials through GLS and Nova, adding digital marketing services through our Adapt Worldwide division, and backed by our full suite of localization and quality validation services at Welocalize. We have a unique ability to add value during each stage of our customer's global product journey."

"Welocalize is excited to take a position as a market leader in regulated industry services with our latest acquisition of Global Language Solutions," said Erin Wynn, chief customer officer and head of regulated industries at Welocalize. "GLS is strategically important to us because of their broad experience and extensive top-tier clients in life sciences and healthcare, which aligns perfectly with our market position as a localization and translation market leader."

"We are looking forward to joining forces with the most innovative and customer-centric organization in language services to continue our comprehensive and highly customized solutions for global brands and front-runners in life sciences and regulated industries," said Olga Smirnova, CEO and co-founder of Global Language Solutions.

"After two decades of serving who's who in life sciences, we realized that we can do more by teaming with an organization that has the same passion we do for exceptional customer service, unsurpassed quality, innovation and technology backed by a global team that works to put the customer first," said Inna Kassatkina, president and co-founder at Global Language Solutions.

Welocalize and Norwest Equity Partners ("NEP"), a leading middle market investment firm that acquired Welocalize in June 2015, were advised by Winston & Strawn LLP on legal matters and PricewaterhouseCoopers on financial matters. Global Language Solutions was advised on financial matters by investment bank Fairmount Partners.

Global Language Solutions, a Welocalize company, will remain headquartered in California and take full advantage of the 21 Welocalize global offices in the North America, Europe and Asia.

Welocalize, Inc., founded in 1997, offers innovative language services to help global brands reach audiences around the world in more than 175 languages. We provide translation and localization services, talent management, language tools, automation and technology, quality and program management. Our range of managed language services include machine translation, digital marketing, validation and testing, interpretation, staffing and enterprise translation management technologies. We specialize in consumer, technology, manufacturing, learning, oil and gas, travel and hospitality, marketing and advertising, finance, legal and life sciences industry language solutions. With more than 1,000 employees worldwide, Welocalize maintains offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Japan and China. www.welocaliz e.com

Global Language Solutions (GLS), a Welocalize company, provides specialized language solutions for the regulated, healthcare and life science industries. Solutions include industry expert translation services for regulatory and compliance content, document translation, linguistic validation, interpreting, website and marketing localization, eLearning and multimedia services. Global Language Solutions is an industry leader with proven translation and localization proficiency required for global clinical trials, pharmaceuticals, biotech companies, medical devices, healthcare brands, medical providers, and government agencies. GLS is ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 17100 certified. Established in 1994, GLS is headquartered in Irvine, California. As a Welocalize company, Global Language Solutions has 21 global offices and provides language solutions in 175 languages. ww w.globallanguages.com