SYDNEY: The COVID19 pandemic has proven to be no barrier to the acquisition of another personal injury assessment services company by Nordwake Pty Ltd.

Specialist Opinion Group (SOG) is the latest company to join the suite of businesses belonging to the Nordwake group, with Independent Medical Opinion (IMO); Medico Legal Reporting Services Australia (MLRSA); Vocational Capacity Centre (VCC); Complete Domestic Care (CDC) and 3DMind Solutions (3DMS) already supported within the Nordwake operations.

Nordwake CEO Pieter De Groot is passionate about the opportunity that the acquisition presents, “We see real value in being able to expand our services, both through the specialist staff who will be continuing to deliver outstanding service to clients, as well as the introduction of new assessors & specialists.”

“Whilst the Specialist Opinion Group has a very similar profile to IMO, we feel that by bringing both of these companies under the same ownership, we will expand our expertise and increase assessor availability for all our clientele.”

This new acquisition is the second for Nordwake within 12 months, having also acquired occupational and vocational rehabilitation business 3DMS at the start of the year. When questioned about whether the pandemic provided more opportunity for buying into another business, De Groot was adamant: “This has been a long time coming. Nordwake has a vision for what we want to stand for in the Australian market, and we spend a lot of time ensuring that any business we acquire is going to add value to our long-term strategy.”

De Groot explains: “Specialist Opinion Group was a natural fit for us – they have a great reputation, long-term staff, active assessor database and healthy retinue of repeat clients. We believe they will be a great addition to our offices and we are very happy to be welcoming them to the team.”

Specialist Opinion Group Founder, Poppy Melas, is positive about the transition: “I have created many fond memories since founding the business 21 years ago, and I would like to thank all of my staff, assessors and clients for their valuable contributions in building and developing the organisation. I know that the strong team we have established will continue to be successful as they will be greatly supported in the new environment.”

The acquisition represents a 100% buyout of Specialist Opinion Group, which will entail moving both Staff and Assessments to the Nordwake premises in Goulburn St, Sydney. This will enable access to the shared services and facilities – including the Customer Contact Centre, report reviewing, assessment room facilities, telehealth & digital services, invoices and payments.