D&M Holdings up for sale - bidded on by Best Buy and Kenwood

[Danny Tse]

We're talking about some primo brands here....Marantz, McIntosh, Denon, Boston Acoustics, Snell, etc.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/denon-up-for-sale-best-buy-and-kenwood-bidding

[venomclan]

There goes the neighborhood.

[Ricardo]

McIntosh owned by Best Buy? There's something definitely wrong about that.

[mightymouse]

I never thought I would see the day that Mcintosh would go on sale at my local Best Buy...:eek:

Denon just came out with some amazing HT separates. I was hoping that Denon was getting serious about audio again. Great, now all that is going to be scrapped if it is sold...:(

[avguytx]

Anything is possible in this day and age of consumer electronics. No one is oblivious to buy outs if the price is right.

Can you imagine buying a $10K plus tube amp from a snot nosed, pimple faced kid in a blue shirt? Funny... (ok, they "might" let him wear the coveted white shirt)

[polktiger]

I never thought I would see the day that Mcintosh would go on sale at my local Best Buy...:eek:

.:(

This would be pretty incredible to me. We have a client that is one of about 3 or 4 authorized Mac dealers in all of South Carolina. They had to really fight to get that license several years ago. I can't imagine an owner like Best Buy would be able to defeat those dealer agreements.

[dorokusai]

Sweet!

[Face]

Anything is possible in this day and age of consumer electronics. No one is oblivious to buy outs if the price is right.

Can you imagine buying a $10K plus tube amp from a snot nosed, pimple faced kid in a blue shirt? Funny... (ok, they "might" let him wear the coveted white shirt)I believe their new tube monoblocks are $11,000 each.

[mhardy6647]

I believe their new tube monoblocks are $11,000 each.
The current version of the venerable MC275 (which admittedly is a stereo amp, although it is bridgeable) is surprisingly affordable. As in, they are fricking tempting...

[Face]

I agree. I almost picked up one a few months ago, I decided to upgrade my preamp instead. I may pick up one by the end of this year.

[zingo]

Shoot, I should just buy them. It would save us audiophiles a lot of grief...

[fossy]

I see at the end of that article, it mentions HK was in the running till last week.Maybe that's why their website doesn't have as many choices as it did a year ago. I thought they were goin outta business.

[mightymouse]

Who knows what will happen. Maybe after Best Buy takes over Mac, the geniuses at Best Buy will just create 2 lines of Macs. One will be the consumer grade lineup to be sold at Best Buy. The other will be the premium grade Macs to be sold at exclusive Mac dealerships.

The consumer grade Macs will probably just have the Mac name on the faceplate. The insides will probably be made by Insignia. The premium line will still be the original Mac inside and out. But the price will probably double, so Best Buy can milk still more profits from audiofools flush with cash...



This would be pretty incredible to me. We have a client that is one of about 3 or 4 authorized Mac dealers in all of South Carolina. They had to really fight to get that license several years ago. I can't imagine an owner like Best Buy would be able to defeat those dealer agreements.

[mightymouse]

I remember reading somewhere that Harman International was up for sale. Goldman Sachs initially showed an interest in buying, but then backed out. I think Harman International is still looking for a buyer. I guess either the price is too high, or they are having some serious financial problems that no one wants to touch them.


I see at the end of that article, it mentions HK was in the running till last week.Maybe that's why their website doesn't have as many choices as it did a year ago. I thought they were goin outta business.

[dpowell]

Anything is possible in this day and age of consumer electronics. No one is oblivious to buy outs if the price is right.

Can you imagine buying a $10K plus tube amp from a snot nosed, pimple faced kid in a blue shirt? Funny... (ok, they "might" let him wear the coveted white shirt)

Maybe if Best Buy acquires some of the higher end brands, they will roll out a new chain of high-end audio/video stores.....:rolleyes:

[sucks2beme]

Or maybe BB will just screw up all those high end brands.
They would get them to make "custom" lower priced items
just for them, like Guitar center does with their suppliers.
Nobody needs a cheap Chinese knockoff with a Mac label
on it.

[mightymouse]

Most of the components used in genuine McIntosh gears are probably made in China anyways.:rolleyes:

[Face]

Most of the components used in genuine McIntosh gears are probably made in China anyways.:rolleyes:
:rolleyes:
http://mcintoshlabs.com/inside/1073.asp

[shimey013]

Go ahead and Bestbuy, buy them..see this was Circuit city loses them and its another reason for Blockbuster to buy ccity and watch ccity go belly up...lol

anyway, this would be another nail in ccities coffin too...lol

[F1nut]

As the HiFi world turns.....geesh!

[Danny Tse]

Anyone considered the idea of D&M Holdings going to a Chinese parent company?

In recent years, speaker manufacturers such as Quad, Mission, Wharfedale, KEF, etc. have all been purchased by Chinese corporations. They are all still producing world-class speakers. With all these speaker companies, I would imagine one of these parent companies would love to invest to buy well-known amplification/source manufactuers such as Marantz, McIntosh, and Denon. Boston Acoustics, with its well respected car audio speakers, would be great to gain a foothold into car audio. Especially in China's own emerging car market.

[shack]

It's just business...and in business...EVERTHING is for sale.

[Marty913]

Who knows what will happen. Maybe after Best Buy takes over Mac, the geniuses at Best Buy will just create 2 lines of Macs. One will be the consumer grade lineup to be sold at Best Buy. The other will be the premium grade Macs to be sold at exclusive Mac dealerships.

The consumer grade Macs will probably just have the Mac name on the faceplate. The insides will probably be made by Insignia. The premium line will still be the original Mac inside and out. But the price will probably double, so Best Buy can milk still more profits from audiofools flush with cash...

You may be on the right track here. Probably more likely that Denon, Marantz, and BA would be impacted and Mac / Snell left alone. I noticed BB seems to be dumping their HK stuff lately so maybe something's up.

[Danny Tse]

From enjoythemusic.com....D&M has been sold

D&M Holdings Inc. and Bain Capital Partners LLC today announced that they have entered into an agreement, under which an acquisition corporation owned by investment funds advised by Bain Capital Partners LLC will launch a tender offer for all of the shares of D&M Holdings at a price of 510 yen per share of common stock. This price represents a premium of 37.1% over the average closing share price in the six months prior to June 19, 2008, and a premium of 68.9% over the unaffected closing share price on January 23, 2008, the day prior to the emergence of press speculation regarding a potential transaction involving the company.

Following the completion of the tender offer process, the shares of D&M Holdings would be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.... D&M Holdings is a global operating company providing worldwide management and distribution platforms for premium consumer, automotive, commercial and professional audio and video businesses including Denon, Marantz, McIntosh Laboratory, Boston Acoustics, Snell Acoustics, Escientâ, Calrec Audio, Denon DJ, Allen & Heath, D&M Professional and D&M Premium Sound Solutions.

Bain Capital is a global private investment firm that manages several pools of capital, including private equity, venture capital, and public equity and leveraged debt assets with more than $78 billion in assets under management. Since its inception in 1984, Bain Capital has made private equity investments and add-on acquisitions in more than 300 companies in a variety of industries around the world, including Burger King, Dunkin' Brands, AMC Theaters, MEI Conlux, NXP, Sun Telephone, Toys "R" Us, Warner Music Group, Sensata Technologies and FCI. The firm has a team of over 300 professionals dedicated to investing in and supporting its portfolio companies.

Why do I have baaaaaaaaaaad feeling about this transaction?

[Face]

There are some mixed feelings out there.

As long as they continue to support their vintage items, I'm content. It would be nice if they rolled back to last year's price sheet though. :D

[Hawkeye]

I've been following this pretty closely on another site and as Face says, mixed emotions out here. I would not mind seeing an entry level Mac product that would not compete with the main line. Maybe a line that had a silver glass front and black trim pieces to distinguish it. It could use better than average components yet several notches below the top. A line like this could introduce people to the Mac line-up and sound without the huge investment the stuff costs now. Then as people made more money, over time they would be possibly tempted to step up to the main line.

But, just as a hedge and my own piece of mind, I may have to buy the MDA/MCD 1000 (transport and DAC) now while the company is still what it is.

Gordon

[SolidSqual]

I personally don't want to see Mac go with a cheap affordable line. Mac like Esoteric or any other high end brand should be something everyone wants to strive for. They are brands that not everyone should own. They are brands that should not sacrifice their standards to compete against the likes of Sony Receivers

That being said, I see no reason why BB should not own the brands as long as they understand these brands are not about major compromises but for the absolute pursuit of sound.