Sound United To Acquire Onkyo’s Home Audio Division

Already the parent company of an impressive family of premium audio brands, Sound United announced a major move that will add another big name in the space to its portfolio. The group has entered into a term sheet with the Onkyo Corporation that will give Sound United ownership of Onkyo’s consumer audio division—including the Onkyo, Pioneer, Pioneer Elite, and Integra brands. The term sheet, Sound United explained in a statement, will allow the companies to quickly proceed with negotiations of definitive terms and agreements.

Kevin Duffy, current CEO of Sound United, will be the CEO of the newly combined business, the statement said. The completion of the transaction, which is still subject to numerous “normal-course” conditions and approvals from regulators and Onkyo’s shareholders, is expected to be closed around the end of June. Once closed, the acquisition will add the Onkup consumer brands to a laundry list of premium audio brands that includes Denon, Polk, Marantz, Definitive Technology, HEOS, Classé, and Boston Acoustics.

“We are thrilled by the opportunity to add the venerable Onkyo and Pioneer brands to our portfolio. Sound United is one of the leading dedicated providers of premium audio/video products, and we believe the combined businesses will bring unrivaled innovation and sound performance to our consumers and channel partners,” Duffy said in the statement. “Upon completion of the transaction, we will work tirelessly with the consumer audio division of Onkyo Corporation to ensure a seamless transition into the Sound United family so that all employees, customers and channel partners benefit from the enhanced breadth and depth of the new organization.”

Sound United said that the move will enable the brand to “better innovate” across product categories, feature sets, technology partners, and consumer targets. More specifically, the company believes it will be able to build on the legacies that the Onkyo brands have developed over time by incorporating their own manufacturing efficiencies, product development cycles, and expanded investment capital.

Post acquisition, the Onkyo Corporation will retail the rights to the Pioneer and Onkyo brands for the purposes of their Digital Life and Embedded Audio businesses. Additionally, as part of the planned acquisition, Sound United will acquire all of Onkyo’s worldwide third-party distribution agreements under which their audio products are currently sold.

The timing of the announcement is excellent for Sound United, which is preparing for their first-ever dealer conference in New Orleans, May 20-22. Dealerscope will be on site covering the event, which will surely lead to a more in-depth look at what Sound United plans to do with their new collection of AV receivers, HiFi equipment, smart speakers, turntables, soundbars, and more.