TC Group, parent company of guitar gear manufacturer TC Electronic, has announced that it is for sale.
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This news comes after the rebranding of TC Group in 2013, which now appears to be intended to raise the company’s marketability for this upcoming sale.
Looks like TC Electronic will soon be added to the many unprecedented acquisitions that happened this past few years. TC Group CEO Anders Fauerskov expects the group to be sold in its entirety by Spring of 2015, this includes TC Electronic, TC Helicon, Lab.gruppen and Tannoy. At the time of this writing, the name of the potential buyer is not yet announced, so it would seem that the company is still looking for the right buyer.
Fauerskov said that the Group is “open to a sale both to an industrial buyer as well as equity firms”, and that “it is still very early days, but at the moment there seems to be an overwhelming interest”. Basically, they are selling the company to an equity firm or to a competitor.
It was announced that the brands will not be sold individually, TC Electronic’s MI Division was specifically mentioned, saying “The MI side is one of the larger business areas within TC Group, and is expected to play a large part of the future as well.”
When asked why they are selling the company now when some of their brands are doing well, he answered, “The timing is based on shareholders’ interest, combined with an analysis of business prospects, showing that the potential for TC Group is much larger than what can be achieved under the current ownership.”
As expected CEO Anders Fauerskov was quick to defend their decision from questions about lay-offs, he says, “Management believes that a sale is the right move for TC Group, leading to even higher growth. That again will lead to better career prospects and higher job security generally for the employees within TC Group.”
As it is now, it is still too early to see what will happen to the company, especially to the TC Electronic brand which is of more interest to us guitarists. The press release hinted that there is “overwhelming interest” so negotiations maybe going well. If the current performance and operation of Line 6 (now under Yamaha) is any indication, there really may not be any need for worry. We will just have to wait and see. For more of this story, visit Pro Audio Asia.
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