Biamp acquires Community and Apart Audio
- Details
The two audio brands will join as separate product families within Biamp's product portfolio but business functions will gradually blend to form a single Biamp business.
Rashid Skaf, Biamp president, CEO, and co-chairman, comments: “I am tremendously excited to complete this transaction. Building a comprehensive lineup of speakers has been a priority of mine as we move to position Biamp as a full line provider of professional audiovisual solutions. Acquiring Apart Audio and Community Loudspeakers was my preferred route to accomplishing that quickly with incredibly strong and respected brands. The many products added to our portfolio give us powerful positions in several key growth markets for Biamp - most notably retail, hospitality, restaurants, stadiums, and outdoor venues. With this move, Biamp has clearly established itself as a leader in the pro AV market.”
The Audioprof Group International acquisition comes just seven months after Biamp acquired sound masking specialist Cambridge Sound Management and underpins the AV giant's aggressive growth strategy under Skaf's direction.
Kris Vermuyten, CEO of Apart Audio, adds: “I am thrilled that Community Loudspeakers and Apart Audio are joining the Biamp family. The great product complementarity and geographical fit strengthen my belief that we are now part of one of the strongest and most respected AV solutions providers and that we will be able to offer best in class solutions to our channel partners and end users. I want to thank 3d Investors for their hands-on support and guidance during the last 10 years that helped our company grow into a worldwide installed sound specialist."
Apart Audio specialises in full signal path functional and commercial and leisure audio solutions for small and mid-size venues, including retail, food service, education, and small offices. The company offers a broad array of speakers as well as amplifiers, mixers, controllers, and paging stations. Apart has a well-established presence in Europe and entered the North American market in 2018. It is believed Biamp’s distribution system can provide "an immediate boost" to the audio brand.
Community Loudspeakers was founded in 1968 by speaker design pioneer Bruce Howze. The company is a respected manufacturer of a broad range of premium speakers, targeting indoor and outdoor applications including commercial, leisure, stadiums, and other large venues. Most recently at InfoComm 2019, Community Loudspeakers introduced the new L Series LVH-900 Beamforming Venue Horn.
