(June 16, 2020) Like a tsunami appearing to grow stronger by the moment, the most dominant company in the AV world has officially entered into a preliminary letter of intent to purchase Bowers & Wilkins. For those of you keeping track at home, the storied speaker brand would join Denon, Marantz, Definitive Technology, HEOS, Classé, and Boston Acoustics in Sound United’s impressive portfolio.
“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,” said Kevin Duffy, CEO at Sound United. “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.”
As history has shown, not every transaction announced becomes a reality. Look no further than Sound United’s terminated agreement to purchase Onkyo’s Home Audio Division last fall. To that point, Sound United has explicitly stated that B&W’s acquisition remains “subject to ongoing discussions, confirmatory diligence, regulatory approvals, and other required consents.” Neither company has indicated how long such formalities will take.
