Just an FYI. I figured that some people may be interested in this. Since they are the parent of lexicon Mark Levinson and Revel.
http://www.avrev.com/news/0407/26.harman056.shtml

MOre than one person at Harman is switching from burgers to steak..;)

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. At least it is an investment company buying them and not a competitor.

Huge news considering that Harman is the second biggest AV company in the world(behind...cough....Bose).

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. At least it is an investment company buying them and not a competitor.

I have to diagree with you as KKR is known as a breakup firm...in other words, they will eventually sell off the individual pieces on the theory that individually they are worth more than their sdum...I personally would be concerned...

Might not those pieces become independent audio companies again?

What are the chances they could get more revenue by breaking them all the way down and selling production equipment etc?

I have to diagree with you as KKR is known as a breakup firm...in other words, they will eventually sell off the individual pieces on the theory that individually they are worth more than their sdum...I personally would be concerned...
KKR is a buyout shop. Sometimes they breakup companies, sometimes they restructure them, sometimes they use the company as a vehicle to make more acquisitions. Sometimes it is a combination of these strategies. The fact that KKR bought them out really does not tell you anything except they expect to make a 20-25% internal rate of return over a 5 year period.

Huge news considering that Harman is the second biggest AV company in the world(behind...cough....Bose).

You mean American, I assume?

MOre than one person at Harman is switching from burgers to steak..;)

I guarantee that Gina Harman is putting caviar on her Wheaties by now. She likes the money by all accounts. I'd love to hear Paul Scarpelli or Charlie Woods' commentary on this one (well, I've heard the off record ones :) )

Huge news considering that Harman is the second biggest AV company in the world(behind...cough....Bose).

You ARE kidding, right? How long has this been the case? I never heard that stat at any dealer meetings I went to, mind you the last one I went to was about 10 years ago. Had they attained that stat back then, you know it would have been rammed down our throats.

I really can't see Bose outselling the Harman group with all of their subsidiaries under that massive umbrella.... really?

You mean American, I assume?

I think so.

You ARE kidding, right? How long has this been the case? I never heard that stat at any dealer meetings I went to, mind you the last one I went to was about 10 years ago. Had they attained that stat back then, you know it would have been rammed down our throats.

I really can't see Bose outselling the Harman group with all of their subsidiaries under that massive umbrella.... really?

It does. I read this in Forbes magazine. They were talking about the reclusiveness of Dr. Bose.

Well, there's no accounting for taste of the unwashed masses...;D

Analysts are expecting competing offers for Harman up to June 16.They expect someone will want to pay more.
Caviar will be in short supply.