Strategy in TECH...
On Tuesday, SnapAV announced that it has inked an agreement with Onkyo Corporation to become the exclusive distributor of the company’s Integra brand for the countries of Australia and New Zealand. SnapAV says this new appointment will take effect on February 1, 2021.
Recent developments have thrust Gibson Brands back into the spotlight once again – a spot that CEO Henry Juszkiewicz doesn’t particularly enjoy, unless he’s there on his own terms. But this time, two tidbits of news have conspired to bring Gibson, and their financial challenges to the fore. And as we try to digest all of this, it’s clear that Gibson is continuing to show signs of strain due to sluggish results from its aggressive diversification into consumer electronics jeopardizing its ability to deal with looming huge debt payments on the loans used to acquire CE brands.
Pioneer Corporation released an interesting document on September 12th – while much of the tech media was in Denver for CEDIA – titled Notice with Respect to Basic Agreement for the Integration of Pioneer’s Home AV Business and Onkyo. This curious document, six pages long, gives an update as to the state of the discussions between the parties in the previously announced “basic agreement” between Pioneer, Onkyo, and Baring Private Equity Asia for a “Capital/Business Alliance” related to Pioneer’s Home AV business.
Gibson Guitar Corp., a manufacturer of musical instruments and significant shareholder in Onkyo Corp. and majority owner of Onkyo USA, has entered into a “Criminal Enforcement Agreement” with the U.S. Department of Justice settling matters and circumstances surrounding government allegations of their illegal purchase and importation of woods and materials protected by environmental regulations and laws. As part of their settlement, Gibson admits the government’s allegations are true, agrees to pay a penalty of $300,000, agrees to an additional “community service” payment of $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, implements a strict compliance program (approved by DOJ enforcers) to prevent future violations, and relinquishes claim to more than $260,000 worth of government-seized illegally imported materials. [Read more…] about Gibson Guitar Admits It Broke the Law; Settles with DOJ to Avoid Criminal Prosecution
