| Industry | Writing Editing Translation |
|---|---|
| Founded | Basel, Switzerland (1997) |
| Headquarters | Basel, Switzerland |
| Key people |
Doris Albisser, Founder and CEO[1] |
| Employees | 600 (2011) |
| Website | http://www.cls-communication.com http://www.cls-lexitech.ca/ |
CLS Communication is a language translation, editing and writing services company based in Switzerland.[2] It has 19 offices on three continents, and provides writing, editing and translating services to customers in the financial services, life sciences, telecommunications and legal industries.[3][4]
The company employs approximately 250 in-house translators and writers and has a network of 2,400 external partners. According to its website, as of 2011 CLS Communication has more than 900 clients.[5]
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CLS Communication was created in 1997 as a spin-off from Swiss Bank Corporation (now UBS) and Zurich Financial Services. In 2002, the company in-sourced the translation teams of Swisscom and Sunrise, Switzerland's two leading telecommunications companies, and the translation unit of the Raiffeisen banking group in Switzerland. Also in 2002, CLS set up offices in London and New York. The acquisition of London-based Richard Gray Financial Translations (RGFT) in 2004 added an office in the UK and the additional offices of RGFT in Paris and Madrid.[6]
CLS then set up branches in Copenhagen and Frankfurt. Between 2005 to 2007 CLS launched its Asian operation, opening offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. Through further BPOs CLS took over the language services teams of Swiss Re, Lombard Odier, Danske Bank and others.
In 2003, CLS became fully independent through a management buyout. In 2009 the company gained a new majority shareholder, the Swiss-based private equity fund Zurmont Madison, through a capital increase and a partial buyout of existing shareholders.[7] CLS followed this move with acquisition of Lexi-tech International, the largest translation firm in Canada (formerly owned by J.D. Irving), and Scandinavian Translators in Denmark.
According to the report "The Language Services Market:2011" by Nataly Kelly and Robert G. Stewart, published by Common Sense Advisory, CLS Communication is the 13th largest global language service provider.[8]
CLS Communication's core business is writing, editing and translating. The company also has a terminology department that helps clients set up their own corporate dictionaries and organise their linguistic assets. CLS also offers a machine translation tool.[9]
Another niche area in which CLS Communication operates is the European standard Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directives (UCITS IV), which aims to allow collective investment schemes to operate freely throughout the European Union on the basis of a single authorisation from one member state. CLS also translates annual reports for companies.[10]
CLS Communication is fully certified to ISO 9001[11] and EN 15038.[12]