UPDATE: Bowers & Wilkins Responds to Sound United Acquisition
We broke the news late last night about the negotiations between the renowned audio business Bowers & Wilkins and Sound United, and the historic and innovative brand has now provided us with their response.
Bowers & Wilkins, arguably one of the most widely respected names in premium performance audio, has begun early-stage talks with Sound United LLC. The Great British brand is currently exploring the opportunities that would present themselves should the two businesses combine. Our taking is that this would be more of a partnership than a buy-out as earlier intimated.
Geoff Edwards, CEO of Bowers & Wilkins, told StereoNET today:
Discussions between Bowers & Wilkins and Sound United are at an early stage with a view to consolidating our premium brands into a new group offering even better consumer opportunities.
If our discussions are successful, combining Bowers & Wilkins' engineering and manufacturing expertise in the premium category with the breadth of resources and capability of Sound United could certainly be a transformative step for both brands. It would allow the Bowers & Wilkins team even greater opportunities to focus on what we do best – building the industry's finest loudspeakers.
Bowers & Wilkins confirms that, should the two brands decide to move forward, Sound United would acquire all worldwide third-party distribution and licensing agreements under which Bowers & Wilkins premium audio products are currently sold. This does not affect any of the existing Bowers & Wilkins product portfolio or any of the products Bowers & Wilkins currently distributes or current global operations.
We promise to bring you more on this as it unfolds, so stay tuned.
Jay Garrett
StereoNET’s resident rock star, bass player, and gadget junkie. Jay heads up StereoNET as Editor for the United Kingdom and Europe regions. His passion for gadgets and Hi-Fi is second only to being a touring musician.
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