Strategy in TECH...
Azione Unlimited announced today that it has partnered with Nationwide Marketing Group, a group representing more than 14,000 storefronts made up largely of appliance, furniture, and electronics retailers. While Nationwide may not be an immediately obvious choice as a partner for Azione, the custom integration specialist group maintains that it makes perfect sense as they say integrators must be able “to address all of their clients’ needs, no matter the room in the home.”
I have just learned that Crestron is planning to launch a monster series of regional dealer shows, called the Crestron NEXT Road Trip, that sounds as though they’re going to be spectacular – with new product launches, full product displays & demos, and in-depth educational courses offered. The multi-day event will include huge displays from both the company’s commercial and residential business units in what promises to be quite a show.
As the first and one of the most prominent brands that decided to pull out of the recent CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis last month, Savant based their difficult decision on placing the safety of their employees and customers as their key concern in a time of surging Delta-variant COVID infections. But that decision did not mean that they didn’t want to communicate with their dealers about the many exciting developments at the company. So Savant developed a powerful two-pronged approach (the 1-2 punch I mentioned) to deliver their dealers a better – virtual – trade show.
Nice, a global manufacturer of Smart Home, Security, and Home & Building Automation products based in Italy, announced today that it has acquired Nortek Security & Control – purchased from Melrose plc for $285 million. The move expands Nice’s portfolio and strengthens its North American presence.
Last Friday, Strata-gee broke the news that both Cheena Srinivasan and Michael Malcolm, co-founders of Kaleidescape, had left the company recently to pursue new opportunities. (A third co-founder, Dan Collens, left the company back in 2006.) Kaleidescape, the leading media server manufacturer in the upscale residential space, is an important supplier to many custom integrators, so this is a big change. Late Friday, after Strata-gee broke the news of the change, the company put out a formal statement on the situation.
A few weeks back while on a work assignment unrelated to Strata-gee, I had the opportunity to meet for the first time Alice Schmalzl, the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) at CT Lab, the company that owns Dealerscope, Connected Design, and the CE Week show. During the course of a lunch meeting lasting over two-hours, Schmalzl was engaging, articulate, thought-provoking, refreshingly transparent, and funny. I found her incredibly smart, with a strong business foundation, and I sensed she possessed a steely inner-toughness. I resolved then and there to interview her for a Strata-gist profile for Strata-gee readers.
Premium networking systems and services specialist WhyReboot announced this week that they have set up a national network of independent specialty manufacturers sales representatives. The company has appointed nine top rep firms across the country, expanding their local presence for both sales and support.
Melrose PLC, the private equity turnaround expert that purchased the entirety of Nortek back in 2016, unceremoniously let it slip in a bullet point of a report on financial results, that it has found a buyer for the last remaining piece of the Nortek puzzle they have struggled to turn around over the years. Although they did not name the buyer, Melrose says a contract has been signed for a $285 million deal – remarkably low considering all the brands included in this transaction.
Snap One Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SNPO) announced the results of their fiscal second quarter, the period that ended June 25, 2021. This is the first official report to investors for the newly public company, and Snap One executives were excited to talk about all the positive milestones they achieved in the quarter – first and foremost, launching a successful public offering. Aside from a technical glitch in their conference call with analysts, it was all good news from the company.
Moody’s Investors Service, one of the top global credit and bond rating agencies, announced last week that it has raised the credit rating on Wirepath LLC (dba Snap One) based on its successful completion of an initial public offering of shares of the company’s stock. This is good news for Snap One and potential investors.
