TransPerfect, a New York-based language service provider (LSP), announced Monday that it has acquired the Hiventy Group, a French company specializing in audiovisual services and media localization.
With Hiventy under its wing, TransPerfect — which is already the largest LSP in the industry, according to this year’s Nimdzi 100 — is poised to expand its audiovisual services, thanks to Hiventy’s suite of international offices and a team of roughly 300. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed to the public, but the deal was reportedly closed on Friday, Oct. 14.
“Hiventy provides a complete end-to-end solution to the world’s leading entertainment companies for localization, post-editing, packaging, and distribution — TransPerfect looks forward to building on that foundation of success,” said TransPerfect CEO and president Phil Shawe.
TransPerfect has been on a bit of an acquisition spree as of late — the company announced back-to-back acquisitions of Sterling Technology and Webcertain Group Ltd. in August.
The company, which also holds the distinction of being the first LSP to generate $1 billion in revenue, has also been targeting an expansion into the fields of media and audiovisual services. In January, the company acquired the Valencia, Spain-based sound studio Sòmagic, on the heels of its November 2021 acquisition of Polford Studios, also based in Spain.
“The world continues to demand more video content, and TransPerfect believes this is a long term trend and an important source of future growth,” Shawe said. “With the addition of the Hiventy team, we hope to accelerate that growth for the combined companies.”
And according to TransPerfect’s US counsel, New York-based Baker Botts, the acquisition of Hiventy means TransPerfect now owns more than 90 recording rooms and a total of eight theatrical rooms.
According to Hiventy’s website, the company was originally founded as the CMC Video Laboratory in 1984; following several acquisitions and expansions, it eventually began operating under the Hiventy name in 2016. When it was first founded, the company focused mainly on producing subtitles for films and has since expanded to offer services such as film restoration, post-production services, dubbing, and distribution.
Hiventy, based in Paris, also maintains several offices throughout the world, with locations in Casablanca, Ho Chi Minh City, Lagos, and Warsaw, just to name a few. Shawe told MultiLingual that Hiventy’s presence in Africa and Asia was particularly enticing, as TransPerfect leadership views these regions as “high-growth markets.” Although TransPerfect has incorporated other media-minded acquisitions under its MediaNEXT branch, the company will continue to operate its latest acquisition separately, under the Hiventy name.
“We are very excited to welcome the Hiventy team to TransPerfect,” Shawe said. “Our top priority is to maintain continuity for Hiventy’s customers and staff — and we look forward to working together for years to come.”
This post was updated on Oct. 20 to include comment from TransPerfect CEO and president Phil Shawe.
