UPDATE: Bowers & Wilkins Responds to Sound United’s Acquisition Announcement
Following the news that Sound United announced its intent to acquire Bowers & Wilkins reported by us earlier today, B&W has provided a statement to StereoNET with further clarification.
As reported here, the preliminary letter of intent to acquire Bowers & Wilkins means the proposed transaction “remains subject to ongoing discussions, confirmatory diligence, regulatory approvals, and other required consents.”
Sound United Brands
Geoff Edwards, CEO of Bowers & Wilkins added:
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,
The statement goes on to say that should the deal proceed, "Sound United would acquire all worldwide third-party distribution and licensing agreements under which Bowers & Wilkins premium audio products are currently sold."
According to Bowers & Wilkins 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.
More as the story unfolds.
Marc Rushton
StereoNET’s Founder and Publisher was born in England and raised on British Hi-Fi before moving to Australia. He developed an early love of music and playing bass guitar before discovering the studio and the other side of the mixing desk. After writing for print magazines, Marc saw the future in digital publishing and founded the first version of StereoNET in 1999.
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