Biamp Acquires Community Loudspeakers and Apart Audio
10 July 2019
Biamp today announced the acquisition of Audioprof Group International, parent company of Community Loudspeakers based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Apart Audio based in Antwerp, Belgium from 3d Investors of Gent, Belgium.
Founded in 1968 by speaker design pioneer Bruce Howze, Community Loudspeakers has a long history of innovation. Today, Community Loudspeakers is a well-established and respected manufacturer of a broad range of premium speakers targeting demanding 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, continuing its tradition of innovation.
Apart Audio is a strong competitor in full signal path functional, commercial and leisure audio solutions for small and mid-size venues including retail, food service, education, and small offices. It offers a broad array of speakers as well as amplifiers, mixers, controllers, and paging stations to make Apart Audio a single vendor solution for these markets. Apart has a well-established business in Europe and just entered North America in 2018, a market in which Biamp’s extensive distribution system can provide an immediate boost.
Rashid Skaf, Biamp President, CEO, and co-Chairman commented, “I am excited to complete this transaction. Building a comprehensive lineup of speakers has been a priority of our’s 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 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.”
Biamp, under Skaf’s direction, has charted an aggressive growth strategy that blends organic product line and distribution expansion with entry into new markets via acquisition. The addition of Audioprof Group International comes just seven months after the company acquired Cambridge Sound Management, which made Biamp the world leader in sound masking systems. Biamp currently offers a wide range of audiovisual solutions that facilitate communication and collaboration in conference rooms, lecture halls, auditoria, and now hospitality and retail, as well as paging and notification for open areas like offices, concourses, stadiums, retail centres, and casinos.
Community Loudspeakers and Apart Audio will join Biamp as product families within the company’s portfolio, with business functions gradually blending to form a single Biamp business.
FROM THE BOSS
Rashid M. Skaf
President & CEO
Co-Chairman
Biamp
I am pleased to inform you that barely seven months since Biamp added Cambridge Sound Management to our family we are announcing the acquisition of Audioprof Group International, parent company of Apart Audio and Community Loudspeakers. This newest addition to Biamp adds significant breadth and reach to its product line and clearly establishes us as a pro AV industry leader of complete solutions for all venues. Not long after I assumed leadership of Biamp I declared my intent to build Biamp into a full range provider of professional audiovisual solutions, building on Biamp’s heritage designing industry leading audio processors and this combination is a huge step to reaching that goal.
In all likelihood, you’re very familiar with both the Community and Apart brands and know they have long histories of innovation and excellence. They are tremendous complements to Biamp’s product line, adding a full range of speakers for nearly every venue and application as well as a family of mixers, amplifiers, and controllers ideal for retail and hospitality. Between internal development, adding Cambridge Sound Management, and now this transaction, in less than a year, Biamp has grown to become one of the largest manufacturers of commercial speakers. We’re thrilled to bring this exciting family of solutions to you, our channel partners.
For the time being, it will be business as usual. However, blending the new products into the Biamp product lines and distribution system is a top priority. We understand the significance of this process to you and commit to keeping you informed of changes as they occur. You are a crucial part of Biamp that we respect and depend on and we pledge to treat you as such.
Biamp: www.biamp.com
Community Loudspeakers: communitypro.com
Apart Audio: www.apart-audio.com
RESPONSES