Altor to acquire BTI Studios
BTI Studios Holding AB (“BTI Studios”), a leading global localization player, is to be acquired by Altor Fund IV (“Altor”) from Carlyle European Technology Partners II. The sale and purchase agreement was signed on July 11, 2017.
BTI Studios is one of the leading localization players globally, providing dubbing, subtitling and access services in over 50 languages. Clients are Video-on-Demand (“VoD”) platforms such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, major film studios such as NBC Universal, Warner, Disney and Fox, and broadcasters such as SVT, Discovery and Turner. Projects include high profile series such as Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and True Detective, and Award-winning movies such as Moonlight, among many others.
Founded in 1995 in Sweden by current CEO Björn Lifvergren, BTI Studios is headquartered in Stockholm with 21 offices in 17 countries across Europe, Asia and the US. BTI Studios has an extensive network of translators with around 400 employees and over 3,700 freelancers.
BTI Studios has shown strong organic double digit growth over the last ten years with even higher growth in the most recent years, driven by general market growth with international VoD platforms leading the way, as well as BTI Studios’ expansion into dubbing, and geographical expansion into the US and Asia.
The management team including CEO and founder Björn Lifvergren will partner with Altor as co-investors and drive BTI Studios’ continued growth journey.
“We have during a short period of time developed a great relationship and a joint perspective on the opportunities ahead. I look forward to embarking on the next growth phase together with Altor, further strengthening BTI Studios’ position as a leading global localization one-stop-shop. Altor’s experience of growing world-class companies will be valuable for us to further enhance our strategic agenda,” says CEO and founder Björn Lifvergren.
For Altor, BTI Studios is an exciting investment in an attractive industry niche led by an impressive management team. The localization market is expected to continue to grow at double digit rates p.a., driven by increased broadband and smartphone penetration, VoD players’ rapid internationalization and increased investments in original content to compete for viewers. In addition, new global players are entering the original content space to strengthen their user ecosystems, including Facebook, YouTube Red and Apple, which will further drive localization need.
“BTI Studios is well positioned to continue to capture market growth and share. We are very impressed by BTI Studios’ strong performance track-record, customer reputation and management team,” says Klas Johansson, Partner at Altor.
“We really look forward to working in close co-operation with the management team to continue on this growth journey. The company has a very exciting platform to build from, with a newly established position in the US and France and a clear plan to continue to expand in the largest European localization markets as well as in Asia, both organically and through M&A. BTI Studios provides value to its clients by smartly combining physical capabilities with technology. Going forward, we will invest heavily into digital workflows, process and automation to further push the bar for how technology can add more value to BTI Studios and its clients,” Klas Johansson continues.
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory requirements and approvals.
For more information, please contact:
Corinna Booth, Director of Marketing at BTI Studios: +44 7469 159 222
Anna Tropp, Communications at Altor: +46 722 309 417
Elaine Cayless, External Affairs Coordinator at Carlyle: +44 (0) 207 894 1598
About BTI
Founded in 1995 as Broadcast Text International by Björn Lifvergren, BTI Studios is among the world’s largest and most renowned localization companies providing dubbing, subtitling, access services and media solutions in any language. Our clients are Video-on-Demand platforms such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, major film studios such as NBC Universal, Warner, Disney and Fox, and broadcasters such as SVT, Discovery and Turner.
For more information visit www.btistudios.com
About Altor
Since inception, the family of Altor funds has raised some EUR 5.8 billion in total commitments. The funds have invested in excess of EUR 3.8 billion in more than 40 companies. The investments have primarily been made in medium-sized companies with the aim to create value through growth initiatives and operational improvements. Among current investments are Transcom, Carnegie Investment Bank, Rossignol and SATS/Elixia.
For more information visit www.altor.com