Members Jeff da Weasel Posted April 26, 2007 Members Share Posted April 26, 2007 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070426/bs_nm/harman_dc_1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted April 26, 2007 Members Share Posted April 26, 2007 It's still hard for me to believe that one of the crappiest hi fi companies of the 60s became an audio tech giant. I mean... some of the people they ended up owning... my gosh. It's as though Behringer had bought Lavry Engineering, Neve, and... well, you get the drift. It's the triumph of market engineering over technology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted April 26, 2007 Members Share Posted April 26, 2007 It's as though Behringer had bought Lavry Engineering, Neve, and... well, you get the drift. That is actually possible! Business 101: Sell as much crap as you can until you can buy a real company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted April 26, 2007 Author Members Share Posted April 26, 2007 The dollar figure shouldn't be confused as being a value based on the pro audio side of things (i.e. AKG, Lexicon, dbx, Studer, Digitech, yada yada). It's much more about the car audio and "infotainment" sectors of the company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cry Logic Posted April 26, 2007 Members Share Posted April 26, 2007 It's as though Behringer had bought Lavry Engineering, Neve, and... well, you get the drift. Well ... Neve was bought by The School of Audio Engineering in 2005... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Monkey Mouse Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 I want everyone to know that this has nothing to do with the fact that the company makes audio equipment, but merely the fact that the hedge funds/private equity community found a company that they think that has a lot of untapped value hidden inside. Unfortunately this is the reason the entire equities market has been going up and up the last 18 months - when it tanks it is going to make the sub prime mortgage problem look like a side show. History has proven that most LBOs (that is public companies being taken private) are extremely bad ideas with the exception of the $ that the LBO partners, attorneys, and investment bankers make. A lot of LBOs have been so bad that the companies went under within only a few years of going private. Remember Gulf & Western or Two Guys? Bad LBOs brought them down. Since Harman's products suck, they will be in very bad shape if the deal goes sour in the coming years - might be history in 3 to 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spokenward Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 originally posted by Monkey Mousemerely the fact that the hedge funds/private equity community found a company that they think that has a lot of untapped value hidden inside. I think that part of the formula also depends on finding industries that are small (like audio), unattractive (like record retailing) or shrinking and dirty (like some manufacturing businesses - heck, even JVC got sold). The next shoe to drop is usually identifying which brands "aren't strategic" - which really means stuff you can sell to finance the deal. The whole thing has more to do with running money than with innovation and making stuff better. thinking about Gulf + Western leads to a little irony - Paramount actually had really good years under G+W. They took advantage of a decentralized industry, they greenlighted a lot of pictures by innovative directors, they got ready for the growth of cable, syndication and video markets. When G+W wound down it left Paramount with 3 businesses - movies, publishing and Sub-prime lending (The Associates). Of course the largest was Sub prime lending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goldear Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 I was thinking of buying a Lexicon Omega. I still may If I can do so soon. I am a little wary of the statement specifications can change at any time without notice. I would think it possible to ship a similar looking product with even cheaper and poorer performing components. To me the worst part about some takeovers, is that in the drive to rake in profits, customer service or product quality drops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted April 28, 2007 Author Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 Since Harman's products suck, they will be in very bad shape if the deal goes sour in the coming years - might be history in 3 to 5 years. Well, the economic result you predict may be true, but if you think that every product made by JBL, Lexicon and Studer suck, I'd like to know what you think of as "good". Must be some impressive {censored}. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted April 28, 2007 CMS Author Share Posted April 28, 2007 So what's the big deal? Sidney Harman made a good deal and now has $400 million more cash than he had last week. He'll remain chief of the company. He realizes that he's getting old (80+), and quips that he'll probably retire in the next 25 years. The company isn't looking for a new leader, though he's starting to think about finding a successor. Whether you like the company and products or not, I suspect that from the outside little will change. Mr. Harman is a smart businessman and it doesn't really matter whose money is backing the company. I'll bet the investors like what he's doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lowbasslowbass Posted April 29, 2007 Members Share Posted April 29, 2007 Ok, maybe Digitech will make something interesting now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Monkey Mouse Posted April 29, 2007 Members Share Posted April 29, 2007 Well, the economic result you predict may be true, but if you think that every product made by JBL, Lexicon and Studer suck, I'd like to know what you think of as "good". Must be some impressive {censored}. I certainly don't think that those brands (of their pro audio line) suck, but their main sales lines - the consumer aimed ones like JBL and HK sell are more or less junk these days. Exception being the absolute top of the line models, which cost too much for what you get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spokenward Posted September 24, 2007 Members Share Posted September 24, 2007 The deal seems to have fallen through: http://www.twice.com/article/CA6480891.html Washington Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted September 24, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 24, 2007 Ouch. That could get ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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