Strategy in TECH...
This morning we learned a stunning statistic – Pokémon Go, that new game that incorporates augmented reality and that is all the rage right now – has hit an impressive milestone. According to data from MFour Mobile Research, Pokémon Go is now on more Android smartphones than Twitter.
ProSource announced this week the addition of 21 new members, a fairly large freshman class, even for the organization that bills itself as the “largest audio, video and integration buying group in the country.” According to the organization, this freshman class is worth about $43 million in total retail sales.
The ink is barely dry on their agreement to be acquired by Britain’s Melrose Industries PLC, and already Nortek Inc. finds themselves the subject of multiple investigations by several major law firms who have publicly notified shareholders this deal may not be a good one for them. It is not clear if these law firms intend to take action yet, but if so, it could be a complicating factor in the transaction.
The summer continues to heat up with the second major acquisition announcement in two days. Melrose, PLC, a UK-based investment company that buys underperforming companies, improves their operations, and then resells them, has acquired Nortek, Inc. in a deal that pays Nortek shareholders $86 per share – a 38% premium over yesterday’s closing price. The deal, an all-cash offer, is expected to close by the end of August.
News comes this 4th of July holiday week that Ingram Micro, itself just recently acquired by a Chinese shipping company, has sold off AVAD, LLC and AVAD Canada Ltd., to Kingswood Capital Management, a private equity company. In an announcement from Kingswood, the company says it has brought in a new upper management team – including a new CEO, industry veteran Tom Jacoby.
Nexia, a division of monster company Ingersoll Rand and supplier of smart home products and solutions, announced this week that Nexia-certified products will now be able to be controlled with simple voice commands through Amazon’s Echo. Clearly joining the new wave of companies who believe voice-command is the “next big thing” in home automation, Nexia is moving quickly to embrace voice control.
They’ve been hinting about it for months, now Russound makes it official, they will launch an all-new line of 70-volt products targeted for the light commercial market at the upcoming CEDIA Expo in Dallas in September. Although the company had no specific model/feature information for the press at this time, the news is noteworthy nonetheless as the company is clearly expanding into more commercial-appropriate products this year.
Big changes are coming to Sharp, Corp. in the wake of their acquisition by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co – better known as Foxconn. News out of Japan notes that the deal between Sharp and Foxconn officially closes at the end of this month. According to both parties, the acquisition is proceeding smoothly and is fully expected to close on time.
The Custom Electronics Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) announced today that its Size and Scope Survey is now open for participation by residential systems installation pros. This survey, one of the largest the trade association conducts every year, collects data from participants to provide market level information that is then made available to members to assist them in planning their business.
Samsung announced late Wednesday that it has acquired Joyent, a relatively new start-up company that offers cloud computing services, according to a report by Recode. The specifics of the deal were not disclosed, but Joyent management has said it will be joining the Samsung management team.
