Strategy in TECH...
Moody’s Investors Service, one of the top credit rating agencies in the world, said this month that DEI Sales, Inc., dba Sound United, has been assigned a credit rating of B2 and a probability of default rating of B2-PD. In addition to this, they are assigning another B2 rating to Sound United’s proposed $380 million senior secured first lien term loan due in 2028. The forward looking “outlook” for Sound United and this rating is “stable.”
I’ve been thinking about leadership a lot lately. A subject of endless interest for me, the pandemic in 2020 really brought the topic of leadership to the forefront, as we all faced unprecedented and upsetting times. Those dark days in early spring last year were truly scary times – people were getting sick and dying, local governments were forcing us all into lockdown, all businesses stopped functioning, the economy crashed like never before…and no one knew how this story was going to end.
Recently, I ran across content from a leader that I am familiar with, whom I have been following for a long time. This content was what looked to be a painful video for him to make. His discomfort was visible…palpable. And yet in so doing, the video he created was a raw and powerful demonstration of what I would suggest are the genuine traits of a true leader. I wanted to share this with you in case you missed it.
LWith great fanfare, Crestron kicked off their annual festival of all things Crestron – Crestron Masters 2021 – with a keynote address titled “Innovation Fuels Us.” And in a bit of irony, Mother Nature, or should I sway Mother Internet, reminded us all of who’s in charge by causing the program to suddenly stop at about five minutes in. About fifteen minutes or so later, the program started again and, save for a couple of stutters later, attendees were entertained with an impressively professional and compelling pre-recorded video presentation that celebrated Crestron’s history of innovation and set the tone for the week of education and conversation to come.
Bowers & Wilkins continues to forge new paths through the audio jungle, bringing along their trunks full of high-end ethic and high-performance sensibility to help civilize the undisciplined hoards of audio mediocrity. Now part of the Sound United family of brands, B&W hasn’t skipped a beat as they continue to address both new products and new product segments as first revealed to the press seven months ago.
Yesterday, the company launched a pair of true wireless earbuds that completely embody the company’s unique bespoke design style in both industrial design and technological innovation – meet the PI7 & PI5.
If you read my report on the sale of Nortek Air Management on Monday, you know that Melrose sold off the division in a deal valued at approximately $3.6 billion. But in my discussion of the deal, I expressed some skepticism about the metrics the company was using to tell investors what a great deal it was. I don’t claim to be some kind[1] of a financial expert, but something smelled fishy to me.
Now we know what investors think of that deal…and it isn’t good for Melrose.
Melrose Industries PLC announced this morning that they have entered into an agreement to sell off the Nortek Air Management business – the most valuable part of the company – to Madison Industries of Chicago, Il. The cash deal is valued at approximately $3.625 billion. Melrose refers to this transaction as the “Disposal.”
This week we learned that 11 Trading Company…part of Premium Audio Company…which itself is part of Voxx International (love those big corporate structures), has added the only remaining Onkyo brands – Teac & Esoteric – to their distribution line list. They did not include these brands in the original announcement of their agreement with Onkyo, but most people expected it to be added in time. With this new development we get a nice progression of the budding relationship between the companies – Voxx distributing Onkyo, Integra, Pioneer, Pioneer Elite, Teac & Esoteric – while Onkyo Corp. becomes the Klipsch distributor in Japan. Where could this be heading?
AudioControl announced this week that their top-rated X-Series audio/video receivers and preamp/processors are now certified to be Roon Ready. What this means is that these models can auto-discover and connect to Roon without any user or integrator involvement with advanced configuration steps.
Last Thursday, Onkyo notified the Tokyo Stock Exchange that its latest forecast for fiscal 2021 results shows that – despite their best efforts – the company remains insolvent. It was a disappointing announcement, as it means that the company’s well thought-out plans to return to solvency failed. So what happens now?
Yep, you read that right. Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) today announced that they have launched an impressive looking 16-channel distribution amplifier aimed at the custom integration channel. Long deemed by many to be the king of Hi-Fi stereo sound, the company is making a power move into a decidedly integrator mainstay category. So say “Welcome” to the new CDA-16…
