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Sound United Acquires D+M Group, Becomes AV Powerhouse

6K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  NBPk402 
#1 ·

There’s a new sheriff in town. Today, Sound United (parent company of Polk Audio and Definitive Technology) announced the blockbuster purchase of D+M Group, owner of Denon, Marantz, Boston Acoustics, and Heos multi-room audio. The transaction officially closed as of February 28th and the unification process has begun. According to a company letter to industry partners and dealers, shipments and services from these brands will continue uninterrupted.

This acquisition marks the marriage of the largest supplier of AV receivers in the world and the largest supplier of loudspeakers in the North American market. The combination of companies will be known as “Sound United.” Sound United is a division of DEI Holdings, a portfolio company of a Boston-based private equity firm called Charles Capital Partners, LLC.

Kevin Duffy, CEO of Sound United, has been designated to serve as CEO of the entire group of companies going forward. According to Duffy, "Sound United and the D+M Group employees share a culture of innovation and customer focus. We plan to leverage those core values in the combined company in order to offer consumers and our channel partners a breadth of complementary products while expanding our investments in technology development and marketing." He continued by stressing that each of Sound United’s individual brands will continue to be highly differentiated in the marketplace.

D+M Group CEO Jim Caudill, who will continue as an advisor to the consolidated company, added, "This transaction is a testament to D+M Group's employees and exceptional brands and all that we've accomplished in the audio industry. By joining Sound United, we expect to deliver tremendous value to our customers through access to Sound United's aspirational speaker brands including Polk Audio and Definitive Technology. We believe that this transaction will drive compelling opportunities for our employees, customers, and suppliers, and are looking forward to ensuring the success of the new organization."

This is an interesting move for the former speaker-focused company, and will likely help brands such as Polk and Definitive Technology gain further traction in global markets. It remains to be seen if Sound United will opt to share technologies across brands.

Image Credit: Sound United
 
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#2 ·
Not sure I am a fan of monopolies. And I guess we will find out if this increases or lowers product costs.
 
#5 ·
I was shocked by Harmon too. Disappointed actually. Things like these usually end up poorly. I also hope it works out but my gut says it won't. Can you imagine a set of revel towers that say Samsung on the grill? I hate that with enough money you can just buy whatever company you want and exploit them and their work. Samsung wants to be a player but I wish they would do it by finding their own way. Like it should be.
 
#7 ·
I am confused... Harmon owned Denon, and Samsung bought Harmon, and immediately it is released that Denon will now be American made since it is now owned be the USA. So who owns Mark Levinson, and the other Companies now?

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#9 ·
At one point I tried to write it all down because the merger mania had gotten to the point of ridiculous, and I simply couldn't keep track. Here's the last version I had...


  • Audiovox: Klipsch, Jamo, Mirage, Energy, Athena (out of business)
  • Core Brands: ELAN, Niles, SpeakerCraft, Sunfire??
  • Harman International: JBL, Infinity, Harmon Kardon, AKG, Crown, Revel, Lexicon
  • International Audio Group: Audiolab, Castle Loudspeakers, Luxman, Mission, QUAD, Wharfedale
  • Jade: Emotiva, Sherbourn, Bob Carver
  • Lenbrook Group: NAD, PSB
  • MSE Audio: Induction Dynamics, Phase Technology
  • Shoreview Industries: Anthem, Paradigm, Martin Logan
  • Sound United: Boston Acoustics, Definitive Technology, Denon, Escient, Marantz, McIntosh, Polk Audio, Snell Acoustics

Not sure how much of it is still accurate though.
 
#12 ·
Wow, you even included MSE Audio in there! I can tell you that your listings for them are accurate, although if you wanted to add commercial brands there are a couple of them. Up until about six months ago I worked for MSE Audio, primarily in their commercial speaker brand called SoundTube.
 
#10 ·
Dont forget Onkyo also acquired Pioneer in 2015.
 
#11 ·
...And Vertical Scope acquired Home Theater Shack and AVS Forum, and much much more.
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Yamaha is strong with the force.
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Samsung we all know their story: Exploding batteries, spying customers from their TVs and laptops and ... http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37904802
https://www.worldstrendnews.com/trial-samsung-chairman-charged-bribery

Now Samsung acquired Harman International (car business for $8 billion): https://www.gadgetbytenepal.com/samsung-acquires-harman/
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D&M group now under a new roof I think is good; it's logical business strategy @ the right time. Time will tell .... with more new features and performance.
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Yes, who owns Mark Levinson for the home? ...And Lexicon? ...Not Samsung?
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And who owns Sony? ...Oppo? ...LG? ...JVC? ...Epson? ...Optoma? ...BenQ? ...Panasonic? ...Vizio? ...Sharp?
 
#15 ·
Samsung from South Korea acquiring American companies; big American names...Infinity (speakers with the Dr. Floyd E. Toole's imprint), Revel, Lexicon, Mark Levinson, Harman Kardon, JBL, ... America second.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung

Warren Buffett must be shaking his head and wondering about Coca-Cola and Colgate-Palmolive, next on somebody's list to purchase, from somewhere outside America. Everything's for sale, @ a price.

And Samsung is under an umbrella of corporate corruption.
 
#19 ·
My mistake I thought Harman bought D&M a while back.

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