# Sound United Acquires D+M Group, Becomes AV Powerhouse



## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

There’s a new sheriff in town. Today, Sound United (parent company of Polk Audio and Definitive Technology) announced the blockbuster purchase of D+M Group, owner of Denon, Marantz, Boston Acoustics, and Heos multi-room audio. The transaction officially closed as of February 28th and the unification process has begun. According to a company letter to industry partners and dealers, shipments and services from these brands will continue uninterrupted.

This acquisition marks the marriage of the largest supplier of AV receivers in the world and the largest supplier of loudspeakers in the North American market. The combination of companies will be known as “Sound United.” Sound United is a division of DEI Holdings, a portfolio company of a Boston-based private equity firm called Charles Capital Partners, LLC.

Kevin Duffy, CEO of Sound United, has been designated to serve as CEO of the entire group of companies going forward. According to Duffy, "Sound United and the D+M Group employees share a culture of innovation and customer focus. We plan to leverage those core values in the combined company in order to offer consumers and our channel partners a breadth of complementary products while expanding our investments in technology development and marketing." He continued by stressing that each of Sound United’s individual brands will continue to be highly differentiated in the marketplace. 

D+M Group CEO Jim Caudill, who will continue as an advisor to the consolidated company, added, "This transaction is a testament to D+M Group's employees and exceptional brands and all that we've accomplished in the audio industry. By joining Sound United, we expect to deliver tremendous value to our customers through access to Sound United's aspirational speaker brands including Polk Audio and Definitive Technology. We believe that this transaction will drive compelling opportunities for our employees, customers, and suppliers, and are looking forward to ensuring the success of the new organization."

This is an interesting move for the former speaker-focused company, and will likely help brands such as Polk and Definitive Technology gain further traction in global markets. It remains to be seen if Sound United will opt to share technologies across brands. 

_Image Credit: Sound United_


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

Not sure I am a fan of monopolies. And I guess we will find out if this increases or lowers product costs.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

Agreed, it certainly does consolidate a lot of big names brands under one roof.


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## bkeeler10 (Mar 26, 2008)

There have certainly been a lot of mergers and buyouts in the industry lately. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Harman was the biggest shocker for me. Hopefully it all leads to good things for manufacturers AND consumers.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

bkeeler10 said:


> There have certainly been a lot of mergers and buyouts in the industry lately. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Harman was the biggest shocker for me. Hopefully it all leads to good things for manufacturers AND consumers.




I was shocked by Harmon too. Disappointed actually. Things like these usually end up poorly. I also hope it works out but my gut says it won't. Can you imagine a set of revel towers that say Samsung on the grill? I hate that with enough money you can just buy whatever company you want and exploit them and their work. Samsung wants to be a player but I wish they would do it by finding their own way. Like it should be.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

bkeeler10 said:


> There have certainly been a lot of mergers and buyouts in the industry lately. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Harman was the biggest shocker for me. Hopefully it all leads to good things for manufacturers AND consumers.


You have to wonder about the financial health of some of these companies... especially as Millennials become a larger part of the buying equation. Something tells me they're going to have a huge impact on the market, shifting away from big bulky speakers and TVs....


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

I am confused... Harmon owned Denon, and Samsung bought Harmon, and immediately it is released that Denon will now be American made since it is now owned be the USA. So who owns Mark Levinson, and the other Companies now? 

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## bkeeler10 (Mar 26, 2008)

I wasn't aware that Harman ever owned Denon . . . I don't think they did.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

At one point I tried to write it all down because the merger mania had gotten to the point of ridiculous, and I simply couldn't keep track. Here's the last version I had...



*Audiovox:* Klipsch, Jamo, Mirage, Energy, Athena (out of business)
*Core Brands:* ELAN, Niles, SpeakerCraft, Sunfire??
*Harman International:* JBL, Infinity, Harmon Kardon, AKG, Crown, Revel, Lexicon
*International Audio Group:* Audiolab, Castle Loudspeakers, Luxman, Mission, QUAD, Wharfedale
*Jade:* Emotiva, Sherbourn, Bob Carver
*Lenbrook Group:* NAD, PSB
*MSE Audio:* Induction Dynamics, Phase Technology
*Shoreview Industries:* Anthem, Paradigm, Martin Logan
*Sound United:* Boston Acoustics, Definitive Technology, Denon, Escient, Marantz, McIntosh, Polk Audio, Snell Acoustics

Not sure how much of it is still accurate though.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Dont forget Onkyo also acquired Pioneer in 2015.


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## NorthSky (Jun 28, 2016)

...And Vertical Scope acquired Home Theater Shack and AVS Forum, and much much more. 
______

Yamaha is strong with the force. 
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Samsung we all know their story: Exploding batteries, spying customers from their TVs and laptops and ... http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37904802
♦ https://www.worldstrendnews.com/trial-samsung-chairman-charged-bribery

Now Samsung acquired Harman International (car business for $8 billion): https://www.gadgetbytenepal.com/samsung-acquires-harman/
______

D&M group now under a new roof I think is good; it's logical business strategy @ the right time. Time will tell .... with more new features and performance. 
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Yes, who owns Mark Levinson for the home? ...And Lexicon? ...Not Samsung? 
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And who owns Sony? ...Oppo? ...LG? ...JVC? ...Epson? ...Optoma? ...BenQ? ...Panasonic? ...Vizio? ...Sharp?


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## bkeeler10 (Mar 26, 2008)

theJman said:


> At one point I tried to write it all down because the merger mania had gotten to the point of ridiculous, and I simply couldn't keep track. Here's the last version I had...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow, you even included MSE Audio in there! I can tell you that your listings for them are accurate, although if you wanted to add commercial brands there are a couple of them. Up until about six months ago I worked for MSE Audio, primarily in their commercial speaker brand called SoundTube.


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## Kal Rubinson (Aug 3, 2006)

theJman said:


> At one point I tried to write it all down because the merger mania had gotten to the point of ridiculous, and I simply couldn't keep track. Here's the last version I had...
> ............................................
> *Sound United:* Boston Acoustics, Definitive Technology, Denon, Escient, Marantz, McIntosh, Polk Audio, Snell Acoustics
> .........................................
> Not sure how much of it is still accurate though.


McIntosh separated from D&M a few years back and now:
*McIntosh Group:* McIntosh, Audio Research, Pryma, Sonus Faber, Sumiko, Wadia



> Yes, who owns Mark Levinson for the home? ...And Lexicon? ...Not Samsung?


Yes, they own all of Harman.


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## DqMcClain (Sep 16, 2015)

theJman said:


> At one point I tried to write it all down because the merger mania had gotten to the point of ridiculous, and I simply couldn't keep track. Here's the last version I had...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


*Harman International* owns: JBL/JBL Professional, Infinity, Harmon Kardon, AKG, Crown, Revel, Lexicon... AND... AMX, BSS, dBX, Digitech, IDX, Mark Levinson, Martin, Soundcraft, Studer, and SVSI.


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## NorthSky (Jun 28, 2016)

Samsung from South Korea acquiring American companies; big American names...Infinity (speakers with the Dr. Floyd E. Toole's imprint), Revel, Lexicon, Mark Levinson, Harman Kardon, JBL, ... America second. 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung 

Warren Buffett must be shaking his head and wondering about Coca-Cola and Colgate-Palmolive, next on somebody's list to purchase, from somewhere outside America. Everything's for sale, @ a price.

And Samsung is under an umbrella of corporate corruption.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

bkeeler10 said:


> Wow, you even included MSE Audio in there! I can tell you that your listings for them are accurate, although if you wanted to add commercial brands there are a couple of them. Up until about six months ago I worked for MSE Audio, primarily in their commercial speaker brand called SoundTube.


I like to be thorough. 

If you have anything I can add to my list please let me know. I want to keep it as accurate as possible.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

Kal Rubinson said:


> McIntosh separated from D&M a few years back and now:
> *McIntosh Group:* McIntosh, Audio Research, Pryma, Sonus Faber, Sumiko, Wadia
> 
> Yes, they own all of Harman.





DqMcClain said:


> *Harman International* owns: JBL/JBL Professional, Infinity, Harmon Kardon, AKG, Crown, Revel, Lexicon... AND... AMX, BSS, dBX, Digitech, IDX, Mark Levinson, Martin, Soundcraft, Studer, and SVSI.


Thanks for the info. I'll update my list accordingly.


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## bkeeler10 (Mar 26, 2008)

thejman said:


> I like to be thorough.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


MSE Audio also owns SoundTube, SoundSphere, Rockustics and SolidDrive. The first two are commercial speaker brands, and the other two have commercial and residential applications.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

My mistake I thought Harman bought D&M a while back.

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