Bowers & Wilkins Acquired by Silicon Valley based EVA Automation

microstrip

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opus112

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Feb 24, 2016
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Joe Atkins talks about selling up in this article from last year - http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/29/soft-spoken-b-and-w-owner-turns-up-sound-for-speaker-firm

However, Atkins, who owns 60% of B&W, recognises he is not getting any younger. His daughter has indicated that she has no interest in taking on the firm. He is clearly preparing to offload the business, having already sold a 40% stake to two private equity investors. Brussels-based Sofina grabbed 20% in 2006 and Caledonia Investments, based in Britain, snapped up the same-sized stake in 2011 for £24m.

Is Atkins looking to sell up to a larger electronics group, or would he rather float the brand on the stock exchange?

“Thirty years is a long time to invest in a brand and there’s a big responsibility that goes with that,” he says. “I’m now thinking, how does a 50-year-old brand become a 75-year-old brand?”

He does not want to sell B&W to a large corporation, preferring to hand it over to a group that understands and nurtures premium product lines. “I think you have to find a way to transition the stake-holding while you are still invested. That point may not be now, but it’s not 20 years from now either,” he says.
 

amirm

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Likely is estate planning. Should Joe pass away, the heirs could not have afforded to pay the taxes and the business could collapse. Dolby went through the same thing but took the IPO route.

The suitor is really strange. It is a start-up from what I can see with $20M funding a couple of years ago. Wonder if they borrowed money to acquire B&W in which case, the interest expenses will become a big liabililty soon: https://evaautomation.com/
 

hifial

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Apr 7, 2013
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I do not think Gideon Yu will have money problems.

" Gideon Yu, a Korean-born high-tech investor and former president and current co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team.

The 44-year-old Yu has a deep-rooted history in high-tech, as former chief financial officer at Facebook and YouTube and senior VP at Yahoo."

You do not become an owner, co or otherwise, of a major metro city football team without having very deep pockets.
 

edorr

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May 10, 2010
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I do not think Gideon Yu will have money problems.

" Gideon Yu, a Korean-born high-tech investor and former president and current co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team.

Annual salary of his quarterback is probably higher than total opering costs of B&W :)
 

microstrip

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amirm

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I do not think Gideon Yu will have money problems.

" Gideon Yu, a Korean-born high-tech investor and former president and current co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team.

The 44-year-old Yu has a deep-rooted history in high-tech, as former chief financial officer at Facebook and YouTube and senior VP at Yahoo."

You do not become an owner, co or otherwise, of a major metro city football team without having very deep pockets.

No one who has made that kind of money would put their own money at risk for such ventures. :) Here is the funding for the company that acquired B&W: https://angel.co/eva-automation

"Funding

Series A Dec 1, 2014, $20,000,000
Formation | 8
VC Firm · San Francisco

Jerry Yang
Silicon Valley

Chad Hurley
Silicon Valley

Brett Hurt
Austin

Steve Chen
Silicon Valley"


I have little doubt that financing is raised against this acquisition and those interest payments will now tax B&W's business. The hope of course is to increase its valuation somehow. They could for example separate the automotive and sell it to someone (Harman?) before the new tax drags the company into devaluation.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
No one who has made that kind of money would put their own money at risk for such ventures. :) Here is the funding for the company that acquired B&W: https://angel.co/eva-automation

"Funding

Series A Dec 1, 2014, $20,000,000
Formation | 8
VC Firm · San Francisco

Jerry Yang
Silicon Valley

Chad Hurley
Silicon Valley

Brett Hurt
Austin

Steve Chen
Silicon Valley"


I have little doubt that financing is raised against this acquisition and those interest payments will now tax B&W's business. The hope of course is to increase its valuation somehow. They could for example separate the automotive and sell it to someone (Harman?) before the new tax drags the company into devaluation.

Not sure I understand the certainty of that statement. The VC company that you show has a date of Dec 2014. The sale to Gideon just took place
 

hifial

New Member
Apr 7, 2013
91
0
0
No one who has made that kind of money would put their own money at risk for such ventures. :) Here is the funding for the company that acquired B&W: https://angel.co/eva-automation

"Funding

Series A Dec 1, 2014, $20,000,000
Formation | 8
VC Firm · San Francisco

Jerry Yang
Silicon Valley

Chad Hurley
Silicon Valley

Brett Hurt
Austin

Steve Chen
Silicon Valley"


I have little doubt that financing is raised against this acquisition and those interest payments will now tax B&W's business. The hope of course is to increase its valuation somehow. They could for example separate the automotive and sell it to someone (Harman?) before the new tax drags the company into devaluation.


I never said or inferred that he put in his own money. It is a figure of speech.
 

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