Nashville, TN (July 12, 2020)—Gibson has sold two more of its audio brands—Cerwin-Vega! Pro and Home—to Cerwin-Vega Mobile. The acquisition, made for an undisclosed amount, reunites the various brands under one corporate roof for the first time in 13 years.
Founded in 1954 as Vega Associates, the company grew to become known for its pro audio offerings, from creating the first solid-state amplifier to spearheading early immersive cinema audio systems with Sensurround, which famously debuted with 1974’s disaster blockbuster, Earthquake. Building a reputation in pro and consumer markets in more recent times, the company had to declare bankruptcy in 2003, whereupon it was acquired by Stanton Group, which summarily sold off the brand’s mobile products division in 2007 to CVM Acquisition Services. The result was a brand name effectively shared by two separate companies.
The Stanton Group was purchased by Gibson in late 2011, bringing into the Gibson fold not only Cerwin-Vega but also KRK Systems and Stanton DJ. The group acquisition became the foundation of the ill-fated Gibson Pro Audio division, which has been steadily sold off, brand-by-brand, in recent years as Gibson entered and emerged from its own bankruptcy in 2018, aiming to refocus on its central core competency, guitars. Most recently, Gibson sold the Stanton DJ brand to DJ gear powerhouse inMusic last week, making studio monitor brand KRK Systems the last of its former Stanton Group holdings to remain under the Gibson Brands banner.
In the meantime, Cerwin-Vega Mobile is now Cerwin-Vega, Inc., and with the new acquisition from Gibson, it now owns all permutations of the brand. Henry Razipour, current president of Cerwin-Vega Mobile, noted, “By reuniting the Mobile Audio division with the Cerwin-Vega Pro and Home Audio division through this acquisition, we are very excited to have all categories under one umbrella for this legendary brand name. We look forward to building on the momentum and success of the Cerwin-Vega brand and enhancing our position in the professional and home audio category for years to come.”
Bob Chanthavongsa, VP Sales & Marketing for Cerwin-Vega Mobile, added, “The Cerwin-Vega brand has a strong foothold in the much larger consumer arena outside of the 12-volt industry and will help further increase brand exposure for the mobile audio category. Now that all three divisions are back together again, there will be considerable synergies to design and innovate to further the brands domestic and global growth opportunities in the marketplace.”
All business activity for all the brands is now centralized at the company’s headquarters in Los Angeles, CA, effective immediately.
Cerwin-Vega • www.cerwinvega.com
