Onkyo and Pioneer Finalize Sale

Recently there were reports that Pioneer would sell its home audio-video arm to Hong Kong-based Baring Private Equity Asia and Pioneer’s Japanese rival Onkyo Corp. Baring was said to acquire 51% of Pioneer with the rest to be divided at a later date. The sale was set to close at the end of August.

It's now September and new information has been released about the deal.

Baring has pulled out of the agreement and taken their cash with them. This has resulted in Pioneer selling directly Onkyo in exchange for a 14.95% stake in Onkyo. Both brands will be maintained after the sale, according to the companies. The agreement is scheduled to be finalized by the end of October and the two brands are set to complete the integration by the end of March 2015.

The sale includes only Pioneer's home audio-video business. The car audio and DJ arms are not included in the deal. Pioneer is actively looking for a buyer for their DJ business and has retained Bank of America Merrill Lynch to broker the deal.

Owners of Pioneer AV gear are understandably concerned. While we can't know what exactly will happen if this deal goes through as planned, Pioneer is still supporting their current line of receivers. Recently Pioneer announced firmware update for their SC-85, SC-87 and SC-89 receivers to enable Dolby Atmos decoding. We'll keep an eye on this deal and let you know the details as they emerge.