Avid for sale?

[DonaldM]

Well, one way to gauge what all this might mean for the future of Avid and Pro Tools and to see how other companies acquired by STG have fared since acquisition, particularly with respect to customer service and satisfaction.
It would take bit of reading and research, but STG does report on the various companies it has acquired. Its a diverse portfolio. But it does seem like their modus operandi is to focus on the customer base and their needs. They don't seem to be a vulture PE firm.
We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

[TOM@METRO]

Originally Posted by DonaldM

Well, one way to gauge what all this might mean for the future of Avid and Pro Tools and to see how other companies acquired by STG have fared since acquisition, particularly with respect to customer service and satisfaction.
It would take bit of reading and research, but STG does report on the various companies it has acquired. Its a diverse portfolio. But it does seem like their modus operandi is to focus on the customer base and their needs. They don't seem to be a vulture PE firm.
We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

Thanks, Donald. This gives hope that this will be a 'tragedy free' acquisition.

[ZerglingPhilosophy]

Originally Posted by its2loud

Oh brother! Give it a rest with the trolling.

I hate to sound like a troll. I would certainly hate people to come after me for how I perform in my job. Then again, CEO is a highly public position, and things have needed to change at AVID for years. I am heavily invested in their hardware and software, and find so much brilliance, but see the problem as being primarily "cultural". That is why I am rooting for this, because at least it is a shake up, and you can't change if you stay the same.

[ZerglingPhilosophy]

Originally Posted by LDS

But by definition, a private equity firm is also made up of shareholders who seek to make profit... and they can do it without being hindered by the regulations that apply to a publicly traded company. It would be naive to think that STG spent $1.4 billion buying Avid because they want to be nicer to us end users. They purchased it for one reason, and one reason alone - they think they can make a very decent return on investment.

How they plan to do that is anyones guess. We may become the next Fairlight - a bunch of orphaned DAW users because Avid was divided up and parted out to the highest bidder. Or maybe Avid will become the next Toys 'R' Us - a company purchased by private equity, only to end up with wealthier private equity firms and 30,000 Toys 'R' Us employees out of work and a totally bust brand. Maybe STG thinks it can better refine Avid for another round of going public. Who knows.

Criticise public companies and shareholders are you will. It isn't a perfect system, but at least it gives you or I or anyone the power to have a say in the outcome direction of a company. The same doesn't apply to private ownership via private equity. At this point in time, you could flip a coin whether STG will turn out to be Avid's angels or vultures.

Does anyone know why AVID went public in the first place? What was the understanding or aspirations at the time? I can't imagine AVID, their products and professional niche ever being a good choice for a publicly traded company. Kinda shocks me they ever went public. I don't think this is hindsight 20/20, because I'd have to problem understanding it was a great idea that just failed to materialize.

[The Weed]

STG picks up another company:

"MediaValet Inc., the Vancouver-headquartered provider of enterprise digital asset management (DAM), video content management and creative operations software, has announced the completion of its acquisition by an affiliate of STG. All issued and outstanding common shares of the company have been acquired in exchange for CAD$1.71in cash per share. MediaValet’s shares are expected to be delisted from theToronto StockExchange (TSX) shortly."

[TOM@METRO]

Interesting. Thanks.

[Electronic1982]

Originally Posted by The Weed

STG picks up another company:

"MediaValet Inc., the Vancouver-headquartered provider of enterprise digital asset management (DAM), video content management and creative operations software, has announced the completion of its acquisition by an affiliate of STG. All issued and outstanding common shares of the company have been acquired in exchange for CAD$1.71in cash per share. MediaValet’s shares are expected to be delisted from theToronto StockExchange (TSX) shortly."

This is getting a little frustrating, as someone who is involved in the music world.
The news of the coming Avid events is talk about Post, Video, Film, Post, Video, Film and choosing RX to be integrated into Pro Tools, why? because Post, Video and Film uses it (a lot) and now STG is collecing more Post, Video, Film companies... for yep, Post, Video, Film features

I just feel the music side of things is not being given the kinds of attention Logic or Ableton get and instead, STG is moving Pro Tools to serve the Post, Video and Film world.

Pro Tools still can't even organize plugin menus on a Custom level and it's missing several other basic features, but these don't seems to get any attention and instead... we got offered Post, Video, Film

[its2loud]

Izotope isn’t only for the post world. There are many uses for the music side.