Yamaha Corporation (with its head office in 10-1, Nakazawa-cho, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka; President: Shuji Ito) announces that it has reached a basic agreement to acquire 100% of the common stock of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, a division of Pinnacle Systems, Inc., a California-based maker and seller of video editing systems. The acquisition, which includes Steinberg's US sales operations, took place through closed competitive bidding on December 20, 2004, US local time. The finalized acquisition is subject to the approval of the German government.
Founded in 1984, Steinberg Media Technologies is the market share leader in computer software used to produce music. Steinberg became part of the Pinnacle Systems Group in January 2003.
In the mid 1990s, Yamaha forged a relationship with Steinberg by using its computer music products and bundled software. In April 2004, Yamaha and Steinberg deepened their cooperative relationship with the Studio Connections initiative, a joint-development project to seamlessly integrate Yamaha's hardware products with Steinberg's software.
Now, Yamaha has reached agreement to acquire all of Steinberg's common stock through closed competitive bidding. Eying growth in the music creation market and expanded sales of sound equipment, Yamaha has incorporated Steinberg's assets, including its strong technical capabilities in software development and intellectual property, into its Group efforts and further strengthened these activities through joint-development projects.
Outline of agreement
1. YAMAHA will acquire all of Steinberg Media Technologies' common stock from Pinnacle Systems.
2. YAMAHA will acquire Steinberg's US sales business operated by Pinnacle*.
* YAMAHA plans for its wholly owned US sales subsidiary Yamaha Corporation of America (YCA) to oversee US sales of software developed by Steinberg.
3. The total acquisition amount is $28.5M. This acquisition will be effective in late January 2005 after the necessary legal steps were all taken.
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With the acquisition of Steinberg, Yamaha plans to further promote the Studio Connection initiative and realize seamless technical integration of hardware, such as synthesizers and digital mixers, and software. Another goal of the acquisition is to expand the market by making it easier for both general users and professionals alike to create music in a broad variety of genres. |
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