RWS Holdings plc announces acquisition of leading document authoring platform, Fonto

RWS Holdings plc, recognized leaders in structured and web content management technology, has acquired Liones Holding B.V. (Fonto) to fuel innovation and define the future of documents and content management

Chalfont Saint Peter, UK
3/23/2022 8:00:01 AM
RWS Holdings plc today announced the acquisition of Netherlands-based Fonto, the providers of the leading cloud-native, data-driven authoring solution for mission-critical documents. Fonto’s easy-to-use, browser-based authoring environment makes structured content authoring and review possible for anyone in an organization.
 
Both Fonto and RWS share a vision for enterprise content that is ’Beyond the Document’. Mission-critical content will be freed from the document format and managed in more modular and reusable forms that are optimized for digital delivery and machine/API consumption. Fonto’s technology empowers subject matter experts in an organization to author and review structured content with an ease not previously possible.
 
“This acquisition enhances RWS’s leadership position in the structured content market and Fonto strengthens our ability to offer a set of governed authoring tools that enable teams to collaborate on their high-value content,” said Ian El-Mokadem, Chief Executive Officer of RWS. “Fonto and RWS both focus deeply on the special content management needs of regulated industries, such as Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical and Finance, where proper content compliance is not an optional requirement.”
 
The Fonto team will operate as a separate business unit within RWS and will be led by Jan Benedictus and Taeke Kuyvenhoven, who founded Fonto and will continue to lead the company in this exciting new chapter. “RWS has been a long-time partner for Fonto and during that time we have found that we share a common vision about the future of documents and use of structured content,” said Jan Benedictus. “With RWS behind us, we strengthen our size, footprint and robustness to pursue our mission: to make ‘The Future of Documents’ a reality.”
 
“We welcome Fonto to the RWS family,” said Thomas Labarthe, President of RWS Language Services and Technology. “The more we collaborated as partners the more we realized that bringing the two companies together made incredible sense. We are both passionate about helping enterprises maximize the ROI associated with adopting structured content solutions.”
 
In addition to close collaboration with RWS, Fonto will continue supporting a wide array of industry partners who integrate Fonto’s cutting-edge content authoring and reviewing tools into their technologies. “The Fonto team will continue to service and support our valued partners with the dedication they expect from us. Our partners represent a diverse set of market leaders and we will continue to work with them to shape ‘The Future of Documents’ for a broad range of applications,” said Taeke Kuyvenhoven.

About RWS

RWS Holdings plc is a unique, world-leading provider of technology-enabled language, content and intellectual property services. Through content transformation and multilingual data analysis, our combination of AI-enabled technology and human expertise helps our clients to grow by ensuring they are understood anywhere, in any language.


Our purpose is unlocking global understanding. By combining cultural understanding, client understanding and technical understanding, our services and technology assist our clients to acquire and retain customers, deliver engaging user experiences, maintain compliance and gain actionable insights into their data and content.


Over the past 20 years we’ve been evolving our own AI solutions as well as helping clients to explore, build and use multilingual AI applications. With 40+ AI-related patents and more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, we have the experience and expertise to support clients on their AI journey.


We work with over 80% of the world’s top 100 brands, more than three-quarters of Fortune’s 20 ‘Most Admired Companies’ and almost all of the top pharmaceutical companies, investment banks, law firms and patent filers. Our client base spans Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and North and South America. Our 65+ global locations across five continents service clients in the automotive, chemical, financial, legal, medical, pharmaceutical, technology and telecommunications sectors.


Founded in 1958, RWS is headquartered in the UK and publicly listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (RWS.L). 


For further information, please visit: www.rws.com.


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*RWS Group shall mean RWS Holdings plc for and on behalf of its affiliates and subsidiaries.