The parent company of leading audio brands Mackie and EAW, LOUD Audio, LLC has concluded the sale of the renowned Martin Audio brand to LDC, a private equity firm from the United Kingdom.
Woodinville, WA – ( July 2, 2018 ) LOUD Audio, LLC (LOUD), a portfolio company of Transom Capital Group, today announced that it has sold the Martin Audio brand from its portfolio of Pro Audio and MI businesses to UK-based mid-market private equity investor LDC. This move is aimed at allowing LOUD to narrow its focus and deliver the best possible products and experience to its Pro Audio customers.
“I’ve truly enjoyed being able to participate in the legacy of this much-lauded brand,” said Mark Graham, CEO of LOUD. “Bringing some of the technical and operational expertise of the LOUD enterprise to Martin Audio and drawing on Martin’s fanatical passion around sound quality created a nice marriage of capabilities. While we are sad to see them go, we believe this change will benefit both businesses by allowing for simplicity and focus. We wish the brand and all the Martin employees the very best of luck.”
Dom Harter, Managing Director of Martin Audio, stated, “Our success to date has been underpinned by providing equipment of the utmost quality to help deliver an unforgettable listening experience to people across the globe. The next phase of our journey will benefit from an investment partner like LDC. LDC has demonstrated a shared vision with a focus on developing our product line even further, and ensuring we have a rock-solid infrastructure in place to extend our global reach and drive market share.”
James Oh, Partner at Transom Capital Group, added, “Reducing the complexity of the LOUD business and re-focusing on high quality audio delivery from consumers to professionals has always been the focus of our thesis. We are very happy to have found a great owner for the Martin business and wish everyone involved much success in their pursuits.”
Martin and LOUD will be working together over the next few months to ensure a smooth transition for all customers, dealers, and distributors.
Sell-side advisors included Latham & Watkins as M&A counsel and Greenberg Traurig as debt counsel.
About LOUD Audio, LLC
As the corporate parent for world-recognized brands EAW®, Mackie® and Martin Audio®, LOUD engineers, markets and distributes a wide range of professional audio and musical instrument products worldwide. Its product lines include sound reinforcement systems, analog and digital mixers, and studio products. These products can be found in professional and project recording studios, video and broadcast suites, post-production facilities, and sound reinforcement applications, including houses of worship, stadiums, nightclubs, retail locations, and on major musical concert tours. LOUD distributes its products primarily through retail dealers, mail order outlets and installed sound contractors. The Company has its primary operations in the United States with operations in the United Kingdom, Canada and China.
About Transom Capital Group
Transom (www.transomcap.com) is a leading operations-focused private equity firm in the middle market with more than $500M in assets under management. The firm’s functional pattern recognition, access to capital, and proven ARMOR Value Creation Process combine with management’s industry expertise to create improved operational efficiency, significant top-line growth, cultural transformation and overall distinctive outcomes. Transom is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with an additional office in Seattle, Washington.
About Martin Audio London
Martin Audio was founded in 1971 by engineering maestro Dave Martin. His vision was to enable bands to play to larger audiences and be properly heard for the first time. We are very proud of this heritage and Dave’s central philosophy of the importance of the audience experience has remained. Today, Martin Audio enjoys an international reputation for supplying superb professional loudspeaker systems across the spectrum of touring, theatre and installation applications.Renowned for integrity in design, technical excellence and the longevity of its products, Martin Audio takes system creation into a further dimension. Our mission is for every member of the audience to enjoy an exceptional sonic experience faithfully reproducing the artist’s performance.
About LDC
LDC is the leading private equity company in the UK mid-market and the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group. LDC has committed to invest £1.2bn in UK mid-market businesses over the next three years. Over the last three years (2014-16), LDC has invested over £1bn of equity and generated exit proceeds of more than £2bn. For further information, visit www.ldc.co.uk/pressrelease