January 2, 2017
Northern Pacific Group Announces the Acquisition of Language Select by United Language Group
MINNEAPOLIS (January 2, 2017) – Northern Pacific Group, a Minnesota-based private equity investment firm, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Language Select by their portfolio company, United Language Group, Inc. (ULG). This is the third acquisition made by ULG, with acquisitions of Merrill Brink International and KJ International Resources completed in June of this year. The Language Select team will have a significant ownership position in ULG and Language Select co-founder, Yeun Korman, will join the ULG board of directors.
United Language Group, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, provides translation, localization and other language related business services to customers in the life sciences, manufacturing, travel/hospitality, government, and legal/regulatory end markets.
Language Select, headquartered in Burbank, California, provides on-demand telephone and in person interpreting services in 200+ languages to clients in the government, legal, healthcare and private sectors. Language Select provides a unique opportunity for ULG to offer a single vendor option for clients requiring scalable, fully supported document translation and interpretation services in a variety of regulated industries.
Northern Pacific Group invested equity in partnership with Yukon Partners and Hamilton Lane, who also provided mezzanine financing. In addition, Bell Capital Finance and The PrivateBank provided a senior credit facility. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as primary legal counsel to Northern Pacific Group.
“Language Select is such a strong business within the interpretation space; we are very fortunate to add them to our portfolio of partner companies,” said Kristen Giovanis, President of United Language Group. “They have an exceptional service offering and customer loyalty, and will benefit from ULG’s technology infrastructure, expertise and global reach.”
“We are pleased to be joining United Language Group. This opportunity will benefit our clients as we expand our current language offerings, and further demonstrate our skills and expertise in interpretation within highly regulated industries,” said Yeun Korman, Managing Director at Language Select. “Language Select will continue to provide the same level of quality in our services on a much larger scale, with an expanded global footprint.”
About United Language Group
United Language Group is one of the largest translation and localization providers in the world, with offices based in 5 countries on 3 continents. ULG applies innovative technology and language expertise to drive translation and localization quality for clients around the world, in industries like life sciences, legal, IT, finance, and manufacturing. To learn more, please visit www.unitedlanguagegroup.com.
About Northern Pacific Group
Northern Pacific Group is a Minnesota-based growth equity investment firm focused on making non-control investments in growing technology and business services companies. Northern Pacific Group seeks to partner with ownership groups and management teams in order to add value beyond the growth capital provided. For additional information, please visit www.northernpacificgroup.com.
About Yukon Partners
Yukon Partners is an independent and unaffiliated mezzanine firm primarily serving middle market private equity sponsored business transactions with a typical investment range of $10 to $40 million in the U.S. and Canada. The transactions in which Yukon invests include buyouts, growth and platform strategies, recapitalizations, mergers/acquisitions, and public-to-private buyouts. Yukon is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For more information, please visit www.yukonpartners.com.
