Keywords acquires Binari Sonori

Italian localisation company Binari Sonori has been acquired by Keywords International.

The Keywords Group splashed €13m on the acquisition, purchasing the entire issued share capital of Binari Sonori from its three founding shareholders.

The Italian firm is best known for its translation and outsourced voice-over services for games developers and publishers, with clients including Sony Computer Entertainment, Microsoft Game Studios, Ubisoft, Warner Bros, Square Enix, Bandai Namco and Capcom.

Binari Sonori generated €10.2 in revenues last year, with profits before tax coming in at €0.8m. It also has a voice recording and facial capture studio in Los Angeles.

This move follows Keywords’ acquisition of Babel Media earlier this year. Speaking to Develop, the firm said that this was the ‘first of many’.

“The acquisition of Binari Sonori extends our geographical reach and considerably enhances our position in audio services and text localisation, particularly in the top quality end of the market for triple-A games, such as Batman: Arkham Origins, Dead Rising 3, Final Fantasy XIV and the Fable series,” said Keywords’ chief executive Andrew Day.

“The combination of Binari Sonori and Keywords furthers our goal to be the ‘go to company’ for leading publishers of interactive entertainment content. Our clients and prospects will benefit from a broader range of services differentiated by cost, flexibility, time zone, scalability and languages offered.”

Binari Sonori CEO Fulvio Sioli added: “Binari Sonori and Keywords Studios share a strong and common vision of providing quality multilingual services to the global game market. We are excited about this new chapter of our business and a look forward to the opportunities this synergy will bring to both companies.”