Sound United to be acquired (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

By a medical devices company….

Sound United Enters into Agreement to Be Acquired by Masimo Corporation

Sound United, LLC (“Sound United”), a leading innovator of premium, high-performance audio products for consumers around the world, today announced th

www.businesswire.com

 

[Clinton McClure]

Umm… Next gen Denon and Marantz receivers will feature pulse ox and blood pressure monitoring while you watch a movie?

 

[Wayne_j]

Umm… Next gen Denon and Marantz receivers will feature pulse ox and blood pressure monitoring while you watch a movie?

There must be a lack of studies on health effects of watching a movie.

 

[JohnRice]

Well… that’s a weird combination.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Makes sense to me. I worked in Healthcare for 27 years, and the biggest complaint we had regarding the ultrasound machines was... no Dolby Atmos.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

And Onkyo's owned by Sharp/Voxx. Any independents left now?

 

[Todd Erwin]

You also have to ask yourself, what company in the home theater industry would be able to acquire Sound United without major anti-trust hurdles, considering all of the consolidation that has occurred in the last few years? I am betting that the CEO of Masimo is either a home theater enthusiast, knows the CEO of Sound United very well, or both. Hopefully, Masimo will let Sound United conduct business as usual across most of their brands with little to no interference, although I can see some of the brands like Polk use some of Masimo's medical technology in athletic style headphones or media players, and that could be Masimo's strategy in this acquisition.

Parent companies investing and acquiring seemingly unrelated businesses is not unusual. Sara Lee (makers of frozen cheescakes, pound cakes, pies, etc.) at one point also owed Hanes, best known for their line of men and women's undergarments. Also, my father worked for a startup back in the early 1970s that was ahead of its time, creating a card with a mag stripe that could be carried in your pocket that contained your insurance and medical information; the company received venture capital from Stanley Tools, who decided not to further invest in the company, causing it to file bankruptcy less than two years later.

 

[JohnRice]

You also have to ask yourself, what company in the home theater industry would be able to acquire Sound United without major anti-trust hurdles, considering all of the consolidation that has occurred in the last few years? I am betting that the CEO of Masimo is either a home theater enthusiast, knows the CEO of Sound United very well, or both. Hopefully, Masimo will let Sound United conduct business as usual across most of their brands with little to no interference, although I can see some of the brands like Polk use some of Masimo's medical technology in athletic style headphones or media players, and that could be Masimo's strategy in this acquisition.

Parent companies investing and acquiring seemingly unrelated businesses is not unusual. Sara Lee (makers of frozen cheescakes, pound cakes, pies, etc.) at one point also owed Hanes, best known for their line of men and women's undergarments. Also, my father worked for a startup back in the early 1970s that was ahead of its time, creating a card with a mag stripe that could be carried in your pocket that contained your insurance and medical information; the company received venture capital from Stanley Tools, who decided not to further invest in the company, causing it to file bankruptcy less than two years later.

Actually, the Masimo CEO has been quoted as being a long time fan of SU products.

 

[Todd Erwin]

At one time, Masimo's VP of Supply Chain was known by my former co-workers as a "destroyer of companies," with several fairly powerful companies that he worked for severely decimated or out of business just prior to him leaving. He left Masimo almost exactly one year ago, and their stock price is in the $150 range and has not dropped dramatically in the last 12 months, so I think the company survived his tenure there. Emulex, Broadcom, and Nokia were not as lucky.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Actually, the Masimo CEO has been quoted as being a long time fan of SU products.

Masimo's website states that one of their key corporate strategies is to "Continue to Expand Our Market Share in Pulse Oximetry," so my assumption that SU will incorporate Masimo tech may not be that far off.

 

[John Dirk]

A video I recently ran across says this acquisition has everything to do with a law suit Masimo is currently waging against Apple for unauthorized use of their technology in products such as smart watches that can read your SpO2 levels. Masimo expects to win their suit and thus become the only source for this technology but they currently have no presence in the consumer retail space. Acquiring Sound United gives them immediate access to their retail and distribution chains. The report also said that the details of the deal did not necessarily bode well for Sound United.

 

[Sam Posten]

Lol good luck with that

 

[John Dirk]

Lol good luck with that

If justice were truly blind I'd say Masimo easily wins here but since we live in the real world I would expect some sort of "undisclosed settlement." Either way the Sound United deal seems like a very roundabout way of getting into the retail chain but what do I know. I'm not a CEO and still posses my ethics gene.

 

[Sam Posten]

If justice were truly blind I'd say Masimo easily wins here but since we live in the real world I would expect some sort of 'undisclosed settlement. Either way the Sound United deal seems like a very roundabout way of getting into retail chain but what do I know. I'm not a CEO and still posses my ethics gene.

I can only tell you what I’ve read on open reporting from Bloomberg etc. these guys failed to work out a deal with Apple when it was clear apple would bring the tech to Watch with or without them and employees in the space saw the writing on the wall and jumped ship to Apple. There’s no ethical violation in that.

 

[John Dirk]

I can only tell you what I’ve read on open reporting from Bloomberg etc. these guys failed to work out a deal with Apple when it was clear apple would bring the tech to Watch with or without them and employees in the space saw the writing on the wall and jumped ship to Apple. There’s no ethical violation in that.

I won't speculate as I simply don't know. Regardless of the outcome it appears Sound United has inked a bad deal for both themselves and enthusiasts. All the more reason for me to look to Anthem et al. for my next Pre Pro.

 

[opus123]

At one time, Masimo's VP of Supply Chain was known by my former co-workers as a "destroyer of companies," with several fairly powerful companies that he worked for severely decimated or out of business just prior to him leaving. He left Masimo almost exactly one year ago, and their stock price is in the $150 range and has not dropped dramatically in the last 12 months, so I think the company survived his tenure there. Emulex, Broadcom, and Nokia were not as lucky.

I hate that people like that are able to just keep getting very lucrative jobs. I guess they must be very good at selling themselves. We had someone like that at a company I worked for many years ago. He ran it into the ground and the board gave him $50mil to go away and we paid for a $20,000 office in New York for 2 years for him while he searched for his next victim.... I mean job.

 

[JohnRice]

I won't speculate as I simply don't know. Regardless of the outcome it appears Sound United has inked a bad deal for both themselves and enthusiasts. All the more reason for me to look to Anthem et al. for my next Pre Pro.

Nothing about this looks good. So many great audio companies have been taken down in this fashion. From mainstream ones like Harman/Kardon and Klipsch to more elite ones like Thiel Audio and Aragon. Yeah, I said the big one and it's not like it's the first time. Bring it on.

 

[John Dirk]

Nothing about this looks good. So many great audio companies have been taken down in this fashion. From mainstream ones like Harman/Kardon and Klipsch to more elite ones like Thiel Audio and Aragon. Yeah, I said the big one and it's not like it's the first time. Bring it on.

 

[John Dirk]

I hate that people like that are able to just keep getting very lucrative jobs. I guess they must be very good at selling themselves. We had someone like that at a company I worked for many years ago. He ran it into the ground and the board gave him $50mil to go away and we paid for a $20,000 office in New York for 2 years for him while he searched for his next victim.... I mean job.

I suspect there's some of that coupled with the ever present "Country Club" mentality that has plagued the corporate world since who knows when. Once you're in the club you're not held to the same standard as someone outside looking in. Look no further than the NFL for a timely example.

 

[opus123]

If justice were truly blind I'd say Masimo easily wins here but since we live in the real world I would expect some sort of "undisclosed settlement." Either way the Sound United deal seems like a very roundabout way of getting into the retail chain but what do I know. I'm not a CEO and still posses my ethics gene.

Apple is very good in the lawsuit area. They closed both of their stores in my area so they no longer could be sued in that district court because they were losing too many cases there. I'm with you though, a lot of times these things never go to court and they settle and Apple just ends up paying a license fee to Masimo. That to me always seems like a much more lucrative deal since you don't have to develop a product and risk it not selling. Between Apple and fitbit I wouldn't think you would want to break into that market unless you had some kind of great new tech the others don't offer. But like you, I'm not a CEO and no marketing/selling background so just my worthless 2 cents.