LVS to sell AVID

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by JingleDjango

Maybe these are unrealistic options, as pointed out in the replies, but I agree that SSL or Focusrite would probably make good stewards of the product.

Didn't SSL just buy/merge with Harrison? If so, they'd be in the Mixbus camp at this point. Way cheaper.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by noiseboyuk

Why do people keep talking about music and audio companies? Quite apart from Avid being better known for video, LVS is an investment management company. Seems more logical to me that these kinds of companies would be more likely buyers.

My thoughts as well. In the past, larger companies within the same general field would gobble up the smaller, hurting outfits with potential. That was typical. These days, investment groups acquire and then pull the strings from a distance. When I saw this news about Avid I was wondering which disconnected umbrella corp might swoop in to remodel the house; I wasn't thinking about other audio/video brands. Maybe Yamaha, and even that doesn't feel likely.

[Darryl Ramm]

This girl's been on dates a few times, not sure she's going to get asked to the prom. Blum Capital, LVS, ... Impactive Capital acquired in 2019/20 and owns 16% and got a board seat and have done OK. Blackrock holds 12% and in the last filing sold a small part of that. Wait and see what both of them do. I sure expect Impactive Capital is pushing for a sale.

An IB or similar wanting to do a takeover has to see a large upside in this space, Even though Avid has a strong hand I just don't see that being justified in a market with lots of competition emerging, with sales problems, and overall economy and sector downturns. And Avid is/will go though multiple technology transitions, and especially having lost so many of it's technical staff. I expect the later is really likely to be an issue that comes up during any due diligence, it would be near the top of the list for me.

[Electronic1982]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Antitrust/monopoly in both in the USA and Europe absolutely could be an issue with large acquirers, Avid represents a significant market share especially in video and film. And those smaller players may well stir the pot here to get attention.

Any Company to buy just Pro Tools and Avids Convereters/Preamp then free Pro Tools "as software" from the control surfaces, will be successful.

I've always had the impression Pro Tools has been paying Media Composer bills for a while (as well as many other products in the Avid line).

Buying Pro Tools alone and focusing on fixing all bugs along with bringing all the features up-to-date with the other DAWs will very likely put Pro Tools back to the No.1 spot again in terms of DAW's.
Bugs have caused many issues for users and Pro Tools lacking even some of the most basic features like 'Organizing your own plugin menus' is not a good look for the software (if it's can't do that, then what can it do?)

Amazon (and many other Companies) became what they are because they kept putting the customer interests first - I've always wondered if this is the case for us as Pro Tools users.

[BScout]

Originally Posted by Electronic1982

Amazon (and moany other Companies) became what they are because they kept putting the customer interests first

That is most definitely not the story of Amazon.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by BScout

That is most definitely not the story of Amazon.

It was for a while. I always felt well taken care of by Amazon in their earliest of days, before they were a household name. It is definitely not the case anymore.

[BScout]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

It was for a while. I always felt well taken care of by Amazon in their earliest of days, before they were a household name. It is definitely not the case anymore.

Amazon "succeeded" because of predatory pricing. What you felt (or any customer) was at the cost of every other business they were shutting out. And Amazon succeeded because of VC funding and continued investment funding due to their strategy. They wrote themselves as a loss for a long time. Bezos wasn't there for customer satisfaction -- he was there for cut-throat pricing and backroom deals with publishers. It was the Walmart strategy for the online market. What Walmart did to Mom & Pop shops on main street, Amazon did to Brick and Mortars.

And to bring this round to Avid -- that isn't going to happen. Apple's eMagic buy (strategically for Garageband development) became price dumping Logic under the guise of hardware sales. Only time I've seen that happen in the MI space.

[scenaria]

I have a gut instinct that Harman could become involved…

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by BScout

Amazon "succeeded" because of predatory pricing. What you felt (or any customer) was at the cost of every other business they were shutting out. And Amazon succeeded because of VC funding and continued investment funding due to their strategy. They wrote themselves as a loss for a long time. Bezos wasn't there for customer satisfaction -- he was there for cut-throat pricing and backroom deals with publishers. It was the Walmart strategy for the online market. What Walmart did to Mom & Pop shops on main street, Amazon did to Brick and Mortars.

Maybe you think I'm defending Amazon -- I'm certainly not doing that. What I'd described above -- *my* experience -- has nothing to do with what you've mentioned here. Yes, those things occurred, and continue to, and they are, perhaps, the largest culprit for the evaporation of retail diversity, but the tangible feeling of comfort I received from their earliest days does not resonate in their company today. It once did. When it was books. Ages ago.

[snake doc]

I'd rather see Blackmagic Design purchase Avid and merge Media Composer and DR together and make Fairlight not act like a free DAW coded by folks who have never used a DAW before. BM clearly has a DAW in its sights and has the hardware supply chain and dev teams in place. They would need to pull some serious strings to find the cap to do this though.