Anyone catch news about The Fine Sounds Group?

I always have an initial shudder when a small co like ARC is subject to a leveraged buyout as the direction of the company may be changed from above and artisanal work may give way to product that is compromised due to a greater need for profits unattainable under the current business model. The fact that Charlie Randall is involved does give me some comfort although I hope he does not focus capital and attention on his baby to the detriment of one of his former arch rivals.

ARC and MAC do not cater to the same type of customer.

Bifwynne makes good points. I wonder if the new team will shed some brands or maybe trim product lines for each company? From looking at the brands mentioned in the article wouldn't there be overlap or competition between the McIntosh and Audio Research Company?

It will be interesting to see what happens. I am thinking a new question for a trivia game would be "how many owners has McIntosh had" , as much as I like the products they have had at least four owners since I became a customer. I hope that they will at least let the companies continue in their path of product development and marketing as Fine a Sounds did.

I wonder if new management will add to, or spin off, any of the portfolio companies? I also wonder if the new team will institute changes in the way the portfolio companies are managed?

To those who haven't seen this already..

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/grange-and-randall-lead-management-buyout-of-fine-sounds-group-in-partnership-with-lbo-france-and-yarpa-2014-05-09

"The company headquarters will subsequently relocate to New York City, with (Mauro) Grange serving as Group CEO and (Charlie) Randall serving as Group COO and President of McIntosh concurrently."

Will the new owners group be primarily US? Fine Sounds was Italian owned.