DiGiCo, Allen & Heath and Calrec join forces

WORLD: UK-based console manufacturers DiGiCo, Allen & Heath and Calrec have announced the formation of the ProAudio Group. The DiGiCo team has spent the last 18 months consulting with private equity company, Electra Partners, about the possible combination of both Allen & Heath and Calrec with the DiGiCo family. The culmination of this brings together the three British console companies to create a new professional audio group, while retaining each manufacturer’s unique skills, customer relationships and brand identities.

James Gordon will become group CEO supported by management from across the new group. ‘We have bold plans for the group but it is imperative that each company maintains its own independence and style. None of these brands needs to trade off each other's technology or reputation,’ said Mr Gordon. ‘These are three great companies and all the brands currently in the group have enviable reputations for technology, audio quality, reliability and perhaps, most importantly, customer focus and care. The strategy is to share technology and resource across the group and allow some interconnectivity across the product lines.

‘The combined R&D teams are about to enter a new world of possibilities and we intend to take full advantage of their resource, passion and experience,’ he continued. ‘It’s an amazing opportunity for us, and just maybe the whole British pro audio industry.’

‘The creation of the group with DiGiCo and their management is an impressive combination,’ added Glenn Rogers, managing director of Allen & Heath. ‘It will certainly add new momentum to what Allen & Heath and Calrec had already planned for the future.’

‘This exciting formation gives Calrec new opportunities for swifter development of a host of ideas we have been wanting to bring to the market,’ noted Henry Goodman, Calrec’s sales and marketing director. ‘We will have a vast pool of engineers to share new ideas for the industry and target them specifically to each brand’s needs. Customers can expect us to maintain and in some areas improve our very high levels of support and service.’

It has been a complex operation to combine the three brands. For the first time, Electra Partners and ISIS Equity Partners have pooled resources to support the management with this ambitious vision for the future of UK pro audio. The deal means ISIS Equity Partners has partially exited its investment in DiGiCo, while Mobeus, another private equity company, has fully realised its investment.

‘DiGiCo augments our existing investment in the professional audio sector,’ said Charles Elkington, investment partner at Electra Partners. ‘We have worked hard over the last 18 months to bring together these three successful businesses. We look forward to working with James Gordon and his team to grow the group, while also preserving the distinctive brand identity and excellent customer relationships of each business.’

‘Our investment in DiGiCo has been an excellent one and we are delighted to support the combination of three UK console businesses,’ added Adam Holloway, partner at ISIS Equity Partners. ‘This was a complex deal to pull off but we all shared the same vision from the start. The brands will each benefit from accessing an unrivalled pool of R&D resource and technology know-how. We look forward to the next phase of our investment and working alongside Electra Partners and the team.’

‘DiGiCo has been a great success, not just as an investment. The management team has created a world-class business with products that sell to at least 90 countries, all engineered in the UK,’ said Bob Henry, partner at Mobeus. ‘Mobeus will miss its relationship with an outstanding management team and wishes them every success in the next stage of a highly impressive story.’

www.allen-heath.com
www.calrec.com
www.digico.biz
www.electrapartners.com
www.isisep.com
www.mobeusequity.co.uk