Stratus Video has acquired Optimal Phone Interpreters, a provider of over-the-phone interpreting services. Stratus Video is a division of CSDVRS which Kinderhook acquired in February 2015 from M/C Partners, Providence Equity Partners and Communication Service for the Deaf. The buy of Optimal is the first add-on acquisition for CSDVRS under Kinderhook.
Optimal provides both over-the-phone interpreting services and document translation services to the healthcare, legal and enterprise markets. Customers include government agencies, medical facilities, home care agencies, 911 call centers, crisis hotlines and refuge services. The company has capabilities in over 200 spoken languages and can provide its services on-demand and 24/7. Optimal is led by its president Greg Engelman and is headquartered north of Orlando in Winter Park, FL (www.callopi.com).
CSDVRS operates two interpretation services divisions: Stratus Video Interpreting (Stratus) and ZVRS (Z-Video). The Stratus division provides interpretation services to the healthcare, legal and enterprise markets – connecting clients with interpreters in over 180 spoken and signed languages on a video on-demand basis. Z-Video provides video relay services to the deaf and hard of hearing, allowing them to communicate with hearing individuals over video telephones or similar devices such as iPads, via American Sign Language interpreters. CSDVRS is headquartered in Clearwater, FL (www.csdvrs.com).
The acquisition of Optimal will allow Stratus to deliver a one-stop service for interpreting needs as it provides Stratus the capability to support both video and over-the-phone interpreting services. The acquisition doubles Stratus Video’s interpreter base, adding 1,000 interpreters fluent in over 200 languages, and formalizes a previously cooperative partnership between Stratus and Optimal.
“This acquisition gives us a unique opportunity to become a truly one-stop-shop service provider, capable of satisfying the healthcare industry’s ever increasing need for interpreting services,” said David Fetterolf, President of Stratus Video. “By partnering with Optimal, Stratus Video is able to provide a wider and more diverse language base with a single point of contact for rapid response, ultimately improving the experience for both our clients and their patients.”
“David Fetterolf and his management team have built Stratus into a nationally recognized provider of video interpretation services,” said Chris Michalik, Managing Director at Kinderhook. “The acquisition of Optimal enables Stratus to provide best-in-class over-the-phone and video-remote services. Stratus is now positioned to fully satisfy organizations’ need for interpretative services.”
Kinderhook makes control investments in companies with transaction values of $25 million to $150 million in which the firm can achieve financial, operational and growth improvements. Kinderhook pursues private equity investments in non-core divisions of public companies, management buyouts of entrepreneurial-owned businesses, troubled situations, and existing small capitalization companies lacking institutional support. The firm, founded in 2003, has $1.25 billion of committed capital and is based in New York (www.kinderhook.com).
© 2016 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 1-26-16
