Masimo Finds Buyer for Consumer Audio Business

Masimo acquired Sound United (Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, Polk Audio, Marantz, Definitive Technology, Classé, and Boston Acoustics) back in 2022 for a deal that was said at the time to be worth over US$1.03 billion.
Masimo Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its consumer audio business to HARMAN International, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung, for an aggregate purchase price of US$350 million in cash, "subject to certain adjustments".

That's a hit of about $700 million ... :unsure::confused:


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At least Harman / Samsung will know a bit about that kind of business. Masimo did not. A fancy Pulse Ox machine, and too much money, did not make them good investors.
 
I just hope the main brands like Marantz, Denon and B&W get to retain their identity. Harman tends to share technology amongst the brands which you might feel is smart but IMO too much in some instances. You might also ask where is HK receivers now or Lexicon. You might also ask what's under the hood of the expanding JBL electronics. It would be interesting to get others views but when I look at a product I want to know it's the same ancestry. Keep the bloodline pure. I don't see a problem with sharing like a streaming platform or something.

You have to wonder if the company is willing to put money into Def Tech or Boston in order to make them competitive again. I do think Def Tech introduced a new speaker not so long ago. Classe has been struggling what will this mean for them? A well recognized high quality brand though so hopefully Samsung won't mind applying some funds. I'd have to double check I believe Boston still makes car speakers.

Should be interesting to watch how things play out. Levinson is showing new gear in Munich.
 
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