If this week is any indication, the new year should be just as busy as 2021 for language industry acquisition announcements.

Straker Translations, a New Zealand-based, technology-driven translation company, announced today the acquisition of IDEST Communication SA. A Belgium-based company founded in 1990, IDEST carved a space out for itself serving the United Nations, UNESCO, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and other international institutions. 

Straker executives see the IDEST acquisition as the ideal foothold into the multi-billion-dollar European market. 

“We have been talking to IDEST for several years as we recognized the strong standing they have with global institutions and that their long experience and our technology solutions and global reach would be of value to their customers,” said Straker founder and CEO Grant Straker.  “It’s fantastic that the stars have aligned to enable this transaction and for us to build on the great work of the founders over the past 30 years. We have recently set up an office in Amsterdam, and combined with IDEST in Brussels this will give us a very strong offering in the Benelux region.”

The business deal is advantageous for IDEST, too, introducing a new set of technological tools to its workshop. The integration of RAY AI translation technology will expand the number of languages IDEST, which largely specializes in central-European languages, can handle. 

“We are very happy with Straker acquiring IDEST, as they were our top choice for an acquirer given their technology, global services reach, and team and culture fit,” said Jean-Paul Dispaux, founder and CEO of IDEST. “I first met Grant Straker in 2017 in Belgium. When we talked about being acquired, we told him we would grow our business, and he outlined the vision he had for the industry and their technology. Four years later and we have both achieved exactly what we said we would do, and this has built a good deal of trust that we can take forward as we integrate and expand our business in global institutions, which is a significant business opportunity.”

It’s the latest in a flurry of acquisition news, which only took a brief break for the holidays before starting up again. If nothing else, 2022 promises to be a busy year for the language industry.