inMusic buy Rane
One of the music tech industry’s most prolific shopping sprees continues. Following from the purchase of Denon, Numark, Akai and Alesis, inMusic has evidently agreed to purchase Rane Corporation, adding the company’s DJ, HAL and installation assets to its portfolio. Details are sketchy as yet, but according to DJworx Rane have for some time been looking for a suitable buyer, with inMusic making the best offer.
The sale is to go through in this summer, according to DJworx. According to their sources, the majority of the company’s 60-odd employees are to be shed; founders Linda Arink and Dennis Bohn are also to take their hats. Some of the sound engineers working in the HAL/installation sectors will, allegedly, stay on in Seattle, while the DJ product offerings will be folded into the Numark/Denon operation run from inMusic’s HQ. Production is to be moved to the Far East.
Here’s an excerpt from the press release:
Rane Corporation is pleased to announce that cofounders Linda Arink and Dennis Bohn have agreed to sell Rane Corporation to InMusic LLC.
The transaction is set to be completed this summer. After the sale Ms. Arink and Mr. Bohn plan to step down and retire.
Rane is one of the most admired companies within the DJ and commercial sound industry. “Rane will continue some operations out of the Mukilteo, Washington headquarters,” says Ms. Arink.
Ms. Arink feels that with the added resources, engineering talent, and additional IP, InMusic is an ideal buyer for Rane Corporation and will help it grow now and in the future.
The acquisition seems to have come as a shock to industry observers like gearnews’ DJ contributor Peter Westermeier, who sees Rane as one of the heavyweights in the industry. The Seattle-based firm enjoys an excellent reputation with DJs in part due, he says, to their products’ excellent build quality. The move to buy Rane will, he believes, have been motivated by the need to widen the inMusic product range in the context of a very broad offering by market giants Pioneer. We’ll keep you abreast of any major developments.
Thanks to Peter Westermeier for contributing to this article.
This might also interest you
