|
We had a number of emails sent to us with links to a page with the following press release. A number of questions were asked, so we took the time to find out a few answers for you.
AUSTRALIAN AUDIO SUPPLIES JOINS WITH AUDIO TELEX TO FORM HILLS SVL - SOUND, VISION AND LIGHTING
28/3/06
Hills Industries Limited has announced today the acquisition of Australian Audio Supplies, joining industry leader Audio Telex as part of the Hills group of companies.
Audio Telex General Manager Stuart Craig stated "Australian Audio Supplies is an excellent business which specializes in the pro audio retail market, an area which Audio Telex has not traditionally been involved. Mackie and Tapco are two significant icon brands in our industry and both brands are benefiting from the restructure of Loud Technology, their parent company, (as evidenced by their re-listing on the NASDAQ last month). Both brands are poised to again be number one in their relevant segments".
Craig continued that "Dave Croxton, Managing Director of Australian Audio Supplies, introduced Mackie to Australia in 1991. He has over 20 years experience in the pro audio industry and will continue with us in this new venture as National Sales and Marketing Manager for Australian Audio Supplies (AAS). The existing AAS dealer base can look forward to a stronger and more aggressive distribution campaign which will see almost immediate benefits in the form of higher stock levels, more marketing materials and an even higher brand profile".
Audio Telex will distribute a limited number of Mackie and Tapco products into its core contracting customer base, whilst Australian Audio will co-distribute some of Audio Telex's key products such as Beyerdynamic microphones through its retail channel.
Australian Audio National Sales and Marketing Manager, Dave Croxton comments "We are excited about joining the Hills group of companies alongside Audio Telex, Australian Monitor and Crestron Control Solutions. The diversity of products and market sectors covered in this synergy will make the newly formed Hills SLV division a major force in the market place".
The addition of Australian Audio Supplies to the already substantial group offering of Audio Telex, Australian Monitor and Crestron Control Solutions sees the creation of Hills SVL-Sound Vision and Lighting Solutions. Hills Industries Limited acquired Audio Telex, Australian Monitor and Crestron Control Solutions in June 2005. Stuart Craig explains that Hills SVL will offer a number of key benefits to dealers in a very short amount of time. "Today we announce the creation of a strong entity which not only has leading brands across many areas of our industry but is backed by the enormous power of Hills Industries, an Australian icon. We will be offering tangible benefits to loyal customers across the group and in coming months intend to increase our standing in the market by further product extension and acquisition". |
Where they all sit
Historically, Audio Telex have been strong in the contractor market while Australian Audio Supplies has moved more in the retail world. This move, therefore, looks like a fairly practical extension to the group. It was suggested to us that we are just starting to see now, what was planned when the original Audio Telex acquisition went down.
The individual company names will be retained with the priority to boost each company, not merge or downsize or other. AAS for example was acquired to grow the business and they should become far more prominent now.
Hills SVL becomes the managing body. At this time four companies report back to Hills SVL and they are:
The company tree structure (as we see it), probably now looks like the following.
Hills Industries
Started by a man called Lance Hill about fifty years ago, this company has grown from a humble backyard operation into a multi-national company distributing a diverse range of products throughout the world. It's a real Australian success story.
The managing director is David Simmons and the chairman is Jennifer Hill-Ling, daughter of
Robert Hill-Ling who only recently retired having run the company for many years.
SLV Group (Head Office for AV)
Hills SVL is run by Stuart Craig and Roy Morgan and provides the marketing, financing, admin and resources (like expanded training facilities and demo facilities). They were both previously involved in running Audio Telex as well as the other arms of the business for some time so it is not so different in the management aspect, just expanded. The bigger change comes in the formulation of Hills SVL and the structure it brings to each company and the platform that allows for further expansion. Each company under SLV has its own sales manager and its own budgets etc.
It was reported to us that, the first goal for Hills SVL's is to grow each company in its own right. Then, check to see where they can look to share resources. For example the SVL Technical Support Group is one department serving all 4 companies, offering full project design and support.
Australian Audio Supplies
AAS will no doubt get a boost in resources to allow it to offer a stronger commitment to its retailers. We were advised that the main office for AAS will remain up the coast, however, where it is of benefit to their customers, Audio Telex we will give AAS access to some space in the six Audio Telex warehouses -just as they did with Crestron.
The management at AAS will remain constant (for at least the next three years) with the only real change being that they now report to Hills SVL.
AAS retailers
Without doubt, AAS retailers should be in a stronger position once the acquisition is complete and the dust settles. Apparently there is a seminar planned for latter in May where more details will be revealed.
Sub-distribution deals
AAS previously had a sub-distribution deal with National Audio Systems who sold Mackie products into the installation market. Obviously Audio Telex will now replace National Audio in that role.
We were advised that Audio Telex will initially have limited access to Mackie and Tapco products but that they would not be handling anything studio based or with firewire cards etc.
GearPlus rear view
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but had we been more in tune with events, we should have seen all this coming because there were a few pointers we obviously didn't tie together at the time.
- The Mackie people were out here sniffing around last year.
- There was a bit of weird reshuffling of Mackie stock at a recent trade show.
- National Audio Systems had earlier removed any reference to Mackie from their website (this was a glaring point we missed).
- Word on the grapevine has it that NAS are about to release a new product range that sits directly in the space where Mackie previously occupied.
Summary
It seems this is one of those situations where everybody comes out a winner, especially the customers. Mackie gets a shot in the arm, Hills SVL continues on their path of growth via acquisition, National Audio Systems are about to expand yet again and the industry as a whole gets a bit of a rev up, as always happens when changes occur.
|
GEARPLUS ~ news ~ companies ~ products ~ gags ~ articles ~ who we are ~ subscribe ~ unsubscribe ~ you tube 
