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Barco acquires VerVent Audio : FOCAL & NAIM AUDIO

daniboun

daniboun

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Hi amigos,

Just to share...

I just heard this news... it's strange to read, especially since Focal has a lab located in St Etienne, not far from where I live!

"An Steegen, CEO of Barco, comments: “Today marks an important step in Barco’s ambition to shape the future of immersive audiovisual experiences. By welcoming VerVent and its iconic Focal and Naim brands into the Barco family, we accelerate our strategy to deliver fully integrated solutions where image and sound reinforce each other seamlessly.



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Back in the day, Barco was one of the best manufacturers of professional displays (and apparently still is).
Probably a lucky deal for Focal and Naim.
 
respice finem said:
Back in the day, Barco was one of the best manufacturers of professional displays (and apparently still is).
Probably a lucky deal for Focal and Naim.
Click to expand...

There was a time when Barco had a formidable reputation here in France, but they have lost their hegemony....
 
I think of Focal for professional monitors and home audio, mid-price. I think of Barco as professional displays. We have some time before the upgrade to 8K+ in theaters, and radiology displays are endangered by AI radiology. The display supply chain, Barco's suppliers, is available to all of Barco's competitors. Same problem in the power amplifier business where Naim sells. I hope the combined company survives.
 
EERecordist said:
I think of Focal for professional monitors and home audio, mid-price. I think of Barco as professional displays. We have some time before the upgrade to 8K+ in theaters, and radiology displays are endangered by AI radiology. The display supply chain, Barco's suppliers, is available to all of Barco's competitors. Same problem in the power amplifier business where Naim sells. I hope the combined company survives.
Click to expand...
Uhm, look for their Utopia series
Focal Grande Utopia EM EVO is still one of the most expensive speakers ever made
 
delta76 said:
Uhm, look for their Utopia series
Focal Grande Utopia EM EVO is still one of the most expensive speakers ever made
Click to expand...

$ 125000 arfffff
I went to an audio show where I saw another brand selling their speakers for almost @ $ 200000
 
Long time ago there was some Barco EMT.:rolleyes:
 
I have to admit that, until just now, Barco didn't ring a bell for me. Barcode, yes, but Barco—I'd never heard of them.

However, I associate Focal with a lot of DIY projects in the ’80s and ’90s and its excellent inverted dome tweeters.
Jacques Mahul created outstanding drivers and speakers.

Somehow I don’t understand the logic behind the takeover by Barco, but that’s how I feel about many mergers and acquisitions.
 
Another sad example of private equity draining the last bit of value from a reputable audio company and handing it over to face its inevitable demise.
 
OCA said:
Another sad example of private equity draining the last bit of value from a reputable audio company and handing it over to face its inevitable demise.
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I'm as skeptical of M&As as anyone, and despise private equity groups generally. However, is this a private equity takeover? I thought Barco was a legitimate company and bringing in a portfolio of audio companies isn't a terrible fit for the market they serve.
 
Barco is a renowned company - but IDK their current situation. We will see soon enough.
 
kyuu said:
I'm as skeptical of M&As as anyone, and despise private equity groups generally. However, is this a private equity takeover? I thought Barco was a legitimate company and bringing in a portfolio of audio companies isn't a terrible fit for the market they serve.
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Alpha PE acquired VerVent (Focal and Naim) in 2019 right before the 2020–2022 surge in premium home audio demand driven by lockdowns and stimulus spending. They held it roughly 6–7 years, extracted value via dividends/recapitalizations and exited amid reports of recent losses. The sale to Barco is framed officially as a successful exit for Alpha and a strategic audiovisual expansion for the buyer, but the timing and context fit the "cash out after milking the structure" strategy IMV.
 
OCA said:
Alpha PE acquired VerVent (Focal and Naim) in 2019 right before the 2020–2022 surge in premium home audio demand driven by lockdowns and stimulus spending. They held it roughly 6–7 years, extracted value via dividends/recapitalizations and exited amid reports of recent losses. The sale to Barco is framed officially as a successful exit for Alpha and a strategic audiovisual expansion for the buyer, but the timing and context fit the "cash out after milking the structure" strategy IMV.
Click to expand...
Ah damn, was unaware of that. Thanks for the context.
 
Barco is a solid and old Belgian company (since 1934) who's numbers were not that bad actually. It's not that big anymore, mainly because many branches were split off and are seperate companies or parts of other companies now. But Barco itself (and most of it's split-offs) is still a very healty tech firm with solid numbers, and still one of the key players in big screens and projectors. It's just that the brandname is not that prominent anymore as they work more b2b than b2c now.

Barco now wants to focus on the full audiovisual thing, and need audio knowledge and reputation, that Focal and Naim would bring. I've seen them doing more things that in advance we thought would go bad, but they managed to turn it right each time.
 
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