Yamaha Corporation Japan has announced that its board of directors, at their meeting held on June 19, 2008, has decided to make an offer to the founders of NEXO S.A. (Headquarters: Parc du Pré de la Dame Jeanne, 60128 Plailly, France; Registered with the Senlis Trade and Companies Registry [“Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés”] under number 317 272 540; president: Michael Johnson; Hereinafter, NEXO) to acquire all of their shares of NEXO.
Yamaha has 40 years of experience in the development of professional audio systems, and was one of the first companies to commercialize digital mixing consoles. Products such as the Yamaha PM1D and PM5D have become global standards in the industry. Yamaha has worked to drive steady growth of its Professional/Commercial Audio business segment with their digital mixing consoles, signal processors, and power amplifiers.
In June 2005, Yamaha purchased a 10.22% interest in NEXO, a leading brand in the field of high-output speaker systems for professional use in large concert venues, halls, and theaters, and entered into a strategic alliance with the company. NEXO and Yamaha combined their know-how to develop the NXAMP Powered Digital TD controller and joined forces to strengthen their capabilities for providing better system solutions for their clients.
“The offer to purchase NEXO by our parent company Yamaha Corporation Japan, is a very positive move for both companies,” states Larry Italia, vice president/general manager, Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. “Right now, it is business as usual for us, our dealers and our customers.”
Yamaha came to the conclusion that its joint activities with NEXO would generate results at a substantially accelerated pace if the two companies could work in closer cooperation. Accordingly, Yamaha decided to take steps toward making NEXO a wholly owned subsidiary of the Yamaha Group by offering to acquire the shares of the founders and, thereafter, launching a tender offer to acquire the remainder of NEXO’s shares on the market.
After NEXO becomes a subsidiary, Yamaha will continue and further develop the NEXO brand as well as its know-how, and strengthen capabilities for creating system solutions by advancing the position of NEXO and Yamaha in speaker technology. Yamaha will also work to enhance its development capabilities in existing product lines and strengthen its production capacity through the use of NEXO’s production facilities.
If agreed upon, the sale would be concluded later this year.