AudioControl, the Seattle,WA-based scrappy manufacturer of specialty audio electronics for both the automotive and residential markets announced that 2017 is their 40th Anniversary, marking a somewhat remarkable journey from outsider accessory maker to a brand of growing significance to many in the mobile AV and residential custom integration communities. And to what does the company attribute their success? It’s all about reliability, performance and value…
Management
PE Firm General Atlantic Sells Its Stake in SnapAV
BREAKING NEWS
SnapAV announced today that General Atlantic, its private equity partner, has sold its ownership interest in the company to San Francisco-based Hellman and Friedman, another private equity group. The move, while unexpected, is not unusual in the world of private equity – especially in the case where a portfolio company transitions stages of growth that move it beyond the the investment strategy of the PE partner as compared to when the investment was initially made.
See more on this big change at SnapAV… [Read more…] about PE Firm General Atlantic Sells Its Stake in SnapAV
CEDIA to Pay 6-Figure Annual Tax Penalty to Build HQ in Fishers
Indianapolis, IN-based CEDIA announced this week that it will build a new headquarters building in the neighboring town of Fishers, IN, after “more than 18 months of research, financial analyses, and due diligence.” This new “global headquarters” is the “best solution” as determined by the “CEDIA Board.” The announcement projected the project will cost $13.7 million.
But, the announcement did not reveal one significant additional cost… [Read more…] about CEDIA to Pay 6-Figure Annual Tax Penalty to Build HQ in Fishers
CEDIA Refuses All Strata-gee Interviews; New Process Invoked
Another Troubling Hit to Transparency
In a disturbing sign of a further retreat from transparency, CEDIA has notified Strata-gee that it will no longer accept any interviews. This policy appears to apply only to Strata-gee, and no reason was given…at least initially.
Will this new policy inhibit Strata-gee’s ability to cover CEDIA? Read on… [Read more…] about CEDIA Refuses All Strata-gee Interviews; New Process Invoked
Strata-gee Talks to New AVAD President Fred Farrar
AVAD, one of the custom integration industry’s leading distributors, is in the process of going through a major transformation, out from under the – some would say – clueless shadows of its previous owner, monster I.T. distributor Ingram Micro…to a more focused posture under new owner Kingswood Capital Management. Now being managed by CEO Tom Jacoby and President Fred Farrar, the company has begun a series of initiatives to transform their geographic footprint, business model, and push to higher revenues.
We spoke with new President Fred Farrar to find out what’s going on at AVAD… [Read more…] about Strata-gee Talks to New AVAD President Fred Farrar
Readers React to Article on CEDIA Ownership
There has been a strong and vocal reaction to our story posted last week in which CEDIA’s Chairman of the Board, Dennis Erskine, countered our assertion that the members owned CEDIA. Noting that the law says that non-profit organizations have no owners, the chairman corrected our assumption. He was correct, we were wrong.
However, the story caught the attention of many of our readers, including some very prominent and influential executives in the custom integration community.
See what Strata-gee readers had to say about our story on CEDIA ownership… [Read more…] about Readers React to Article on CEDIA Ownership
We Ask CEDIA’s Chairman About Members Rights
We asked for and participated in a telephone interview with CEDIA Chairman of the Board Dennis Erskine and Senior Director of Marketing Cris Pyle in late May to discuss several topics swirling around the organization. First and foremost, we were seeking greater insight into the departure of CEDIA’s CEO Vin Bruno, as well as Ron Fleming and others, but we also discussed a few other topics – notably what rights members have, and what rights they don’t have.
See what the CEDIA executives told us… [Read more…] about We Ask CEDIA’s Chairman About Members Rights
LeEco Appears to be Falling…Hard
What started as a roar appears to be ending as a whimper, as Asian wannabe-giant LeEco announced this week plans to lay-off nearly 70% of their entire U.S. workforce. This significant retrenchment occurs just weeks after its proposed $2 billion acquisition of Vizio fell apart just before closing, and suggests the company, which is in multiple businesses, may have gotten ahead of itself…and ahead of its funding.
See more on this dramatic announcement from LeEco… [Read more…] about LeEco Appears to be Falling…Hard
CEDIA Layoffs & New Headquarters
My assistant spotted it immediately. “There’s a strange letter in today’s mail,” she said with a slight hesitation in her voice one day last week as she handed me a small stack of mail that she had just picked up from our company post office box. That hesitation in her voice wasn’t so much concern as it was uncertainty as to whether she should bother to bring it to my attention. After all, it could simply be just another example of cleverly disguised junk mail.
But when I opened it, I knew immediately – this was not junk mail… [Read more…] about CEDIA Layoffs & New Headquarters
As We Suspected, The Deal is Off Between LeEco & Vizio
Less than a week after we questioned whether Chinese manufacturer LeEco would be able to actually complete its proposed $2 billion acquisition of Vizio, we received a note from a Vizio-connected official, saying that “the merger agreement to acquire Vizio will not proceed…” Given our report last week, this shouldn’t be a big surprise to Strata-gee readers…and it certainly was not to us.
