While not underestimating the problems I see in Sound United, if they were in an unsustainable death spiral of their own making, they would not be making profitt (even small ones) and they would not have been able to fund the purchase of Bowers and Wilkins (and Qualifi) in the last eighteen months. Someone would have noticed.
That will be the third time!I lost count how many times B&W or its parent company have been sold the last few years.... Now one more time.
Sound United To Be Acquired By Medical Tech Company Masimo | Hifi Pig
SOUND UNITED, THE HOME OF B&W, MARANTZ, DENON, POLK ETC TO BE ACQUIRED BY MEDICAL TECH COMPANY Sound United, has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by medical tech company Masimo Corporation. Masimo is a global medical technology company that develops...hifipig.com
Good point. Maybe someone did notice an sounded the alarm that they needed to have a "fire sale" We have differing opinions and that's OK. Pandemic or not and regardless of how many separate companies there are, turning a profit of only $117Million with over 1000 employees and who knows how many facilicites, rent, utilities, maintenence, insurance, employee benefits, etc may not signal sudden death, but it's a serious red flag of bleeding and floundering and would not have attracted a single investor if it had been a publically traded corporation. Because DEI/SU was privately held, I can't find accurate information about their debt which no doubt exists based on the difference between their claimed sales of over $900 Million and $117 profit...a lot of money has been going to the wrong places. It is what it is.
No they won't, I can assure you of that.
Oh well, it was a nice idea, and pushing them in that arena might still work for getting things fixed. Nothing like bad publicity...
All good points. I can't find much information either - SU is a multinational and who knows what is hidden where. I'd place less importance on that $117m profit, given that they have swallowed B&W (which seems to have upped their employee numbers by close to a third, so must be a big chunk of the current company) and on a smaller note the Australian distributor QualiFi in what looks like their last reporting period. I suspect B&W weren't in a good way either after the Foundation Audio flop (and I haven't forgiven them for reducing the price of a lot of their products here twice in the few months after I bought expensive Marantz equipment, but that's another matter).
Trying to navigate the corporate landscape can be confusing. For example, Marantz Pro, and Denon Pro, are brands owned by the inMusic operation. inMusic appears to be some sort of holding company, an umbrella for a handful of brands on the borderline of interesting, mostly slumming the 'semi-pro' neighborhood. Akai, once a well-known consumer name (going back to Roberts open reel tape recorders in the US), and Stanton, are now part of inMusic.
Don't underestimate the credulity of the corporate world. Sometimes all you need is a pretty face, and sometimes the more outrageous the claim, the more money becomes available. And often, those who notice and send up the alarm get marginalized quickly. Liz Holmes and Theranos comes to recent mind, but there are others.
The guy started his own medical products company and now owns two worth 2 billion dollars. I bet he has a plan. I will watch this one because it came out of the blue.
