Stratus Video Interpreting Acquires Optimal Phone Interpreters

Stratus Video Interpreting (Stratus VI), a remote video interpretation provider based in Clearwater, Tampa Bay, has acquired over-the-phone interpreting service Optimal Phone Interpreters (OPI) for an undisclosed sum. Stratus VI and OPI have reportedly been working together for three years as partners prior to the acquisition.

Stratus VI is owned by private equity firm Kinderhook Capital Fund, which bought its parent company CSDVRS LLC in the first quarter of 2015 for $101 million. Stratus VI has reportedly seen explosive revenue growth of 300% in 2015 to $10 million as more healthcare facilities shifted to remote interpreting. In terms of headcount the company says it is going to increase its network from 400 in 2015 to 900 interpreters by February 2016. The company did not disclose the ratio of freelancers vs. salaried full time equivalents. In the same article, Fetterolf lays out the extremely ambitious target of tripling revenue this 2016.

The acquisition of OPI should help Stratus VI gain a solid foothold on the over-the-phone side of the interpretation market. OPI’s specialization complements Stratus VI’s cloud-based, remote, video interpretation services. OPI reportedly employs around 50 full-time equivalents and earns annual revenues of $3.3 million from over-the-phone medical interpretation for the healthcare sector.

In 2014, Stratus VI acquired webRTC (Real Time Communication) company Capiche for an undisclosed amount. The move allowed the company to bolster its remote video interpreting services. The acquisition of OPI already gave Stratus VI’s new CFO Maureen Huber some numbers to crunch just four months into her tenure that started September 2015.