Gibson Announces Acquisition of Philips Entertainment

Sometimes acquisitions take place unknowingly, and once these quiet acquisitions are known to everyone, there will be more or less surprise and even awkward feelings. The well-known music equipment manufacturer Gibson's acquisition of Philips's audio and home entertainment business news, there is not much news coverage, but also let Xiaobian feel so surprised.

On April 28, Gibson announced the acquisition of Philips' audio and home entertainment division. Announced that it has signed an agreement with Royal Dutch Philips Electronics Co., Ltd. to acquire WOOX Innovations, which is mainly engaged in Philips audio and video media. Gibson will pay $135 million and license fees related to the brand license for the first 7 years.

With regard to the details of this acquisition, the focus is mainly on the division and transfer of business. Philips’ audio business will be transferred to Gibson later this year, and video services will not be transferred earlier than 2017 due to licensing reasons. Video products are likely to be sold in the name of Philips within the next seven years.

Last year, Philips announced that it had outsourced its entertainment department to Japanese company Chuan, but the agreement was later terminated. Philips later launched this business again under the name of Woox Innovations. Woox Innovations is headquartered in Hong Kong and employs 1,900 people worldwide.

American guitar and musical instrument maker Gibson is a well-known old-fashioned audio equipment company. Apart from owning many musical instrument brands, the company specializes in professional instrumental audio and video markets. In recent years, it has also continuously pursued the all-round development of the entire audio-visual industry. Gibson announced last year that it has invested in the acquisition of Japanese audio and video equipment manufacturer TEAC to strengthen Gibson's hard power in professional audio equipment. This acquisition of Philips will be a strategic move by Gibson in the consumer market, especially the sales of audio and video products. It is of great significance to Gibson's long-term development.