Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) announced today it has restructured its company in order to further its research and development initiatives. In a brief announcement, only four paragraphs long, new CEO Gregory Lee (former CEO of Samsung North America) said a new, larger research facility will open in 2019.
Bowers & Wilkins
Surprise! Sound United Makes Bid to Acquire Classé
BREAKING NEWS
Will High-End Classé Represent Sound United’s Crown Jewel?
Just when you thought it was all over, Strata-gee has learned that a new suitor – Vista, CA-based Sound United – has emerged to make a bid to acquire Classé Audio from current owner B&W Group. Classé was shut down by B&W on October 6th, as we reported at the time. However, because the company was still sitting on a relatively significant level of inventory – and was considering producing an additional small run of certain models to balance out their inventory to facilitate liquidation – B&W executives often maintained it was still in business.
When deals with three previously interested parties failed to come to fruition, B&W made the decision to close Classé’s Montreal headquarters, dismiss all Classé staff, and turned over service and support functions to B&W facilities.
See more on this surprising development for Classé… [Read more…] about Surprise! Sound United Makes Bid to Acquire Classé
Confirmed: B&W Closes Classé HQ; Staff Dismissed
We have now confirmed that at the end of the day last Friday, October 6th, the Classé headquarters facility was in fact closed by Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) for the last time and all remaining employees were dismissed. This move is a sad and sobering end to a once proud brand celebrated by many audiophiles as one of the finest performing lines of high-end electronics available.
See more of what we know about the closing of Classé… [Read more…] about Confirmed: B&W Closes Classé HQ; Staff Dismissed
Case Closed: Classé Closing October 6th
Multiple sources are telling us that on Friday, October 6th, the Montreal headquarters of Classé will close their doors for the last time and all remaining employees will be let go. This includes the dismissal of Classé President Dave Nauber, who has been with the company since 2002. Classé is part of the B&W Group, which itself is going through a major restructuring in the wake of the dismissal of President Doug Henderson as we reported to you back in July.
See more on what we’ve learned about the situation at Classé… [Read more…] about Case Closed: Classé Closing October 6th
Sales Schism – Multiple B&W Regional Managers Resign
BREAKING NEWS
Multiple sources have confirmed to us that several B&W regional managers have resigned from their positions with the company this week. In a move that one source indicated has been coming since the moment the company terminated President Doug Henderson, the regional managers all turned in their voluntary resignations in the same week.
See more on this new development at B&W… [Read more…] about Sales Schism – Multiple B&W Regional Managers Resign
In Letter to Dealers: Status of Classé is Still Mysterious
The mysterious circumstances enveloping high-end electronics manufacturer Classé, part of the B&W Group, that we first reported on last week appear to be continuing. There has been a new development – a new communication about the matter to Classé dealers by owner B&W Group. But imprecise wording – perhaps done intentionally – only serves to keep the situation unclear…and dealers debating…
See what the letter to Classé dealers says about the company’s status… [Read more…] about In Letter to Dealers: Status of Classé is Still Mysterious
New Mystery: Has Classé Closed?
Fact? or Fiction?
Less than a week after we reported that B&W Group President Doug Henderson had been summarily dismissed from the company he has been a key executive at for more than a decade, the rumor mill has fired up again with word that Classé has been closed down. Classé, like B&W Loudspeakers, is owned and distributed by B&W Group Ltd., a company recently acquired by EVA Automation. Multiple sources are suggesting that EVA owner Gideon Yu has decided to cease operations at the high end manufacturer of audio electronics.
See what we found out from B&W Group about Classé… [Read more…] about New Mystery: Has Classé Closed?
Bowers & Wilkins Notifies Dealers of Henderson’s Departure
STORY UPDATE
Shortly after we published our BREAKING NEWS report on the Bowers & Wilkins dismissal of President Doug Henderson, we obtained a copy of an email that was apparently sent by the company to all B&W dealers explaining the situation. We’d like to be able to say this note answered all questions surrounding the upheaval their actions caused, but it raised as many questions as it answered.
See the email Bowers & Wilkins sent to their dealers on Henderson’s departure… [Read more…] about Bowers & Wilkins Notifies Dealers of Henderson’s Departure
Bowers & Wilkins Dismisses President Doug Henderson
BREAKING NEWS
We have learned that Doug Henderson, President of B&W Group North America, was dismissed from the company earlier this week. There has been no official announcement from the company and B&W executives and employees have been unusually tight-lipped about the matter.
See what we’ve uncovered so far on this move by Bowers & Wilkins… [Read more…] about Bowers & Wilkins Dismisses President Doug Henderson
B&W Acquired by EVA Automation
BREAKING NEWS
Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) announced this morning that they have been acquired by EVA Automation, a Silicon Valley-based technology company founded just two years ago by Gideon Yu. Yu is a well-known sports and technology executive that has launched EVA Automation with the expressed goal of “reimagining the audio/video experience by making products that will change how people interact and think about the home.”