Newly sold translation service sees future in localized work.

SDI Media Group Inc., a provider of translation, subtitling and dubbing services to the entertainment industry, hopes to expand its international operations after Modern Times Group of Sweden sold the company to private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC for $60 million cash in a deal announced last week.

Both Warburg Pincus and SDI are betting that studios will seek one-stop-shops for translation services to keep their content off the black market.

Film studios used to farm out translation work to companies in specific countries through international distributors or regional offices. But the increased digitization of content has led them to limit the number of people handling it, to reduce the risk of piracy.

SDI can "localize"--translate, dub and subtitle--a film, TV show or videogame into more than 50 languages for simultaneous international release.

The company counts major studios like Warner Bros., Paramount, Sony and Fox as its customers, but with a new influx of capital, it is looking South, East and West for new markets.

"We have our eyes on Western Europe, Latin America and Japan," said Chief Executive Barry Perlstein.

Mark Colodny, a managing director who leads media investing at Warburg Pincus, said the insatiable worldwide demand for anything made in Hollywood made SDI an attractive buy.

"Hollywood has been a great exporter of content. SDI is in a good position to benefit from that," he said.

Jeff Marcketta, who has worked at two earlier Warburg Pincus investments, Panavision Inc. and Four Media Co., has been named president and chief operating officer.

SDI, with 105 full-time employees, will consolidate its main operations in Los Angeles, Perlstein said. The company formerly was dual-headquartered in London and L.A.