Sound United Acquires Bowers & Wilkins
Sound United, the parent company of Denon, Marantz, Polk Audio and many more audio-video brands has announced its intention to acquire audiophile speaker manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins.
Kevin Duffy, CEO at Sound United, said in a statement:
“Over the course of five decades Bowers & Wilkins built one of the most prestigious brands in the global speaker market with industry-leading acoustical engineering, iconic design and marketing, B&W is a transformative brand and we look forward to the opportunity to finalize the transaction. This reflects Sound United’s unwavering focus to achieve its mission of bringing joy to the world through sound.”
The preliminary letter of intent to acquire Bowers & Wilkins means the proposed transaction “remains subject to ongoing discussions, confirmatory diligence, regulatory approvals, and other required consents.”
The Sound United brands currently include:
- Marantz
- Definitive Technology
- Classé
- Denon
- Polk
- Heos
- Boston Acoustics
Just over a year ago Sound United announced similar intentions to acquire Onkyo and Pioneer as reported here, however that deal didn’t pan out, so until the ink dries on this deal, we’ll wait and see.
In 2018, Sound United rescued Canadian brand Classé which had been “orphaned” after the sale of the B&W Group, (who at that time owned Classé and Bowers & Wilkins), to EVA Automation, the current owners of B&W. With the announcement of Sound United’s intentions, the B&W and Classé brands may again be reunited.
This latest news comes amid rumors that several senior technical designers and executives at Bowers & Wilkins who are responsible for the brand’s Formation wireless products, have been approached by, and taken positions with, Apple, who now appears to have a renewed interest in higher quality audio and streaming devices.
More as this story unfolds.
