Large California-based interpreting business buys competitor

California-based Language Line Services, one of the nation’s largest interpreting service companies, has agreed to buy one of its competitors for an undisclosed amount.

Language Line, which employs nearly 6,000 interpreters to translate over the phone for banks, police departments, hospitals and others, has agreed to buy Dallas-based Pacific Interpreters, which specializes in translating for the healthcare industry.

Language Line declined to say how much it is paying private equity firm Sterling Partners to take ownership of Pacific Interpreters.

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But officials from the Monterey-based business said the combination of the two companies will generate about $300 million in revenue annually and create the nation’s largest interpreting company.

The demand for language services has been surging in recent years, partly because of growth in immigration to the U.S. but also because of a recent boom in international business transactions with people from China, Japan, India and South Korea, among other countries, industry experts say.

“As the population of limited English speakers continues to grow rapidly, we are here to make sure they have access to all of the goods and services available in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom,” said Scott W. Klein, president and chief executive of Language Line Services.

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