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Investment Advisor on Potential Nortek Acquisition: ‘Nortek is a Bit of a Train Wreck’

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Nortek LogoAfter the Wall Street Journal revealed late last month that United Technologies Corp. (UTC) was in talks to potentially acquire Nortek, Inc., we questioned why UTC would even want to acquire Nortek. Within days of our post, investment advisory firm The Motley Fool (TMF) also raised the issue in a post last week about this not-quite-so-obvious marriage. Well, maybe it’s more like a dalliance than a marriage…at least at this point.

We found the Motley Fool’s analysis interesting – both in their clear-eyed assessment of Nortek and why the acquisition may in fact make sense for United Technologies.

See more on this Motley Fool discussion of the potential UTC-Nortek deal… [Read more…] about Investment Advisor on Potential Nortek Acquisition: ‘Nortek is a Bit of a Train Wreck’

Nortek Management Scrambles in Wake of Troubling Q2 Results

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Company Loses Almost 6% of Total Market Value in Just a Few Hours

Nortek 2015 Q2 PresentationNortek, Inc. released the results for its fiscal second quarter after the market’s close on Monday and took the unusual step of issuing optimistic performance guidance for the remainder of the year. The company does not typically release future performance guidance as a matter of policy, but did so in an apparent attempt to calm investor reaction to their troubling report. It didn’t work – investors reacted strongly on Tuesday by driving Nortek’s stock to a close of $75.23 per share, down sharply from the previous close of $79.88. In just a matter of hours, the total market value of Nortek collapsed almost 6%.

Why did investors react so strongly?… [Read more…] about Nortek Management Scrambles in Wake of Troubling Q2 Results

Soundcast Acquired by Private Equity Company

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Soundcast logoSoundcast, a marketer of primarily wireless outdoor speaker products, announced on Tuesday that it has been acquired by Hancock Park Associates, a private equity company out of Los Angeles, with offices in Houston and Denver. The announcement says that the new owners have also appointed The OAC Group “to manage and run Soundcast.”

It was a surprising development for a company that’s had a bumpy ride through its history… [Read more…] about Soundcast Acquired by Private Equity Company

SpeakerCraft…Just Got SpeakerCrafty

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Engineering drawing of new AIM Series 2 speakersEXCLUSIVE PREVIEW!

The hushed buzz of whispers of trouble at Nortek’s Core Brands had grown over the summer – culminating in almost a roar in the wake of Nortek’s last quarterly report identifying its AV division as troubled. One of the premier flagships of the Core Brands stable is SpeakerCraft. As if the SpeakerCraft crew didn’t already have enough on its plate countering these issues, the company faced a new challenge as its former founders launch a new competitor (Origin Acoustics) to a lot of noise.

But don’t count them out just yet! SpeakerCraft just got SpeakerCrafty…

[Read more…] about SpeakerCraft…Just Got SpeakerCrafty

Burkhardt Builds Big Buzz…But is It Bull?

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Origin Acoustics logoFor months now, the industry’s poorest kept secret has been the reentry back into the intensely dense atmosphere of the custom integration industry by the colorful and spark-spewing starship Jeremy Burkhardt – one of the original founders of SpeakerCraft, which he left (forced-out our sources tell us – Burkhardt says he “retired”) in 2012 in one of the many Nortek reorganizations. At first just a rumor, Burkhardt a few months back began a series of “leaks” about his decision to launch a new company. Speaking mostly one-on-one, off-the-record with various journalists, dealers and reps…the buzz began to build – finally reaching its crescendo on the eve of the 2014 CEDIA Expo.

Just days before Expo, Residential Systems unveiled Burkhardt’s new venture , Origin Acoustics, to the world – followed a few days later by press releases to the rest of the media.

As Origin is revealed, does it exceed the pre-launch hype…or is it just bull?… [Read more…] about Burkhardt Builds Big Buzz…But is It Bull?

Core Brands Awards The Bulk of Its Brands to Atlantic Integrated For NY Metro

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Nortek's Core Brands LogoCore Brands, LLC, a division of Nortek, Inc., announced Tuesday that Atlantic Integrated, a Rockleigh, NJ-based sales representative company, has been awarded most of its brands for representation in the New York Metropolitan region and Fairfield County, CT. This appointment is effective immediately and represents a realignment of the brands under one rep firm.

See more on this major announcement for the NY metro market… [Read more…] about Core Brands Awards The Bulk of Its Brands to Atlantic Integrated For NY Metro

New Marketing VP for Core Brands Zeros in on a Key Problem

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Photo of Joe Roberts of Core Brands

Core Brands continues to rejigger its team as we mentioned in our Breaking News SYNCH earlier this week. And one major step in this process took place in September 2013 when Core Brands surprised many by announcing the appointment of Joe Roberts as its new head of marketing, replacing Paul Starkey. Two weeks later, Roberts headed to his first CEDIA ready to jump in feet first and reassure dealers of the company’s direction…and learn all about any concerns that they felt the company needed to address.

Boy…did he get an earful… [Read more…] about New Marketing VP for Core Brands Zeros in on a Key Problem

The DaVinci Group Promotes Jeff Francisco to President as Part of Sales Team Expansion

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The DaVinci Group logoThe DaVinci Group, Inc., a young but rapidly growing manufacturer of custom integration products, announced today at the 2014 ISE show that Jeff Francisco has been named President of the company. Francisco has been the company’s Vice President of Sales for most of the last year.

According to the company, this announcement is part of an overall expansion of its executive team, as the company seeks to build up its infrastructure to better address its rapid growth.

Learn more about this appointment…and why the company needed to take this step now… [Read more…] about The DaVinci Group Promotes Jeff Francisco to President as Part of Sales Team Expansion

Core Brands to Significantly Downsize Their Sales Rep Network

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BREAKING NEWS *EXCLUSIVE*

Nortek's Core Brands LogoJust three weeks ago, we had the opportunity to speak with Core Brands Senior Vice President of Marketing Paul Starkey, who confirmed information we had received from multiple sources about an impending announcement of significant changes in the way the company planned to go to market. Starkey confirmed much of the information we had uncovered, especially changes to systems and processes.

But regarding one major initiative we asked Starkey about – that of an extensive restructuring of its sales representative network – he was not able to confirm…at that time.

But that changed last Friday when the company told reps of a major sales force restructuring… [Read more…] about Core Brands to Significantly Downsize Their Sales Rep Network

EXCLUSIVE: Core Brands Set to Announce Sweeping New Initiatives April 1st

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Photo of Paul Starkey
Paul Starkey
Senior VP of Marketing

Core Brands, a division of Nortek, Inc., will announce sweeping new structural and marketing initiatives this coming Tuesday, April 1st, Strata-gee.com has learned from multiple sources. In a recent post on parent company Nortek, we alluded to sources telling us about impending changes in what was to be a major announcement – literally a fundamental change in the way the company does business.

Find out what Core Brands is set to announce next week… [Read more…] about EXCLUSIVE: Core Brands Set to Announce Sweeping New Initiatives April 1st