marshall
Hong Kong-based private equity firm HongShan Capital Group has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Marshall Group, makers of amplifiers that for decades have been a favorite among rock guitarists, in a deal valuing the company at 1.1 billion euros ($1.15 billion).
Under the deal, which needs regulatory approval in Europe, the Marshall family will retain “over 20%” ownership in the Stockholm, Sweden-based company. The investors divesting their stakes in the company include Swedish telecom Telia, private equity firms Altor and Time for Growth, as well as venture capital firm Zenith.
This will be the largest European investment to date for HSG, which also has offices in mainland China and London and lists TikTok owner ByteDance and the Chinese mega-retailer Alibaba in its portfolio.
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Terry Marshall, a board member and co-founder of Marshall along with his dad Jim, expressed optimism about the partnership’s potential to further the legacy of Marshall’s pioneering sound.
“We are now over 60 years into our journey, and the pioneering sound of Marshall continues to resonate across the world,” said Marshall. “Together with HSG and our team, we can further build on our history to amplify the love for music and the Marshall brand for decades to come.”
Established in 1962 in Hanwell, West London by Jim and Terry Marshall, Marshall Amplification swiftly built a loyal following by manufacturing larger-than-life amps for guitarists craving more muscle for their stage sound. Devotees of these high-wattage “Marshall stack” rigs over the years have included such guitar giants as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Slash, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend and Angus Young.
In 2023, Stockholm-based Zound Industries, known for their headphones and wireless speakers, acquired Marshall Amplification and rebranded it as The Marshall Group. The Marshall family retained a 24% stake in the company, with family heirs Terry and Victoria Marshall securing seats on the board of directors.
Today, the company still produces amps in the UK at their factory in Bletchley, Milton Keynes. It’s also about to introduce a new line of guitar pedals at this year’s NAMM tradeshow that it hopes will ” provide the unmistakable Marshall sound, no matter where you are.”
In early 2024, the company disclosed that a quarter of the Marshall Group’s sales come from headphones while 70% is derived from speakers and only 5% from amplifiers.
“Our mission is to support Marshall in unlocking its full potential by leveraging our expertise in digital channels and supply chain optimization,” said Taro Niggemann, managing director for Europe at HSG. “We aim to help bring Marshall’s exceptional products to even more customers globally while embracing and celebrating the spirit that has defined the brand for generations.”
Jeremy de Maillard, CEO of Marshall Group, added: “This deal is a testament to our team’s dedication and exceptional talent in making our vision a reality. Together with HSG and the Marshall family, we have the perfect conditions to continue building on Marshall’s iconic status and unlocking our full potential across the world.”
Marshall Amplification, known for furnishing amps to a who’s who of rock stars, is being acquired by the Swedish tech company Zound Industries, Zound announced on Thursday (March 30). Zound had previously licensed the Marshall name for more than a decade and helped spread it around the world through popular headphones and speakers.
The new combined company will be dubbed the Marshall Group. Zound’s press release trumpeted that “on day one, Marshall Group revenues will be over $360 million with double-digit profitability.”
“Combining our strengths and unique positioning… will fuel our ambition to create premium, innovative, products and experiences for musicians and music lovers around the world,” Zound CEO Jeremy de Maillard said in a statement. “Zound has proven itself as a global, fast growing, and progressive company. With the Marshall Group, we are set to accelerate our profitable growth in a $100 billion market.”
“I am proud that this deal has finally been completed,” added Konrad Bergström, founder and board member of Zound Industries until 2018. “The success that we have achieved with the Marshall brand over recent years is soon going to be seen as having been the warm-up to a new British-Swedish headline act that is going to shake the tech and music industries to their foundations.”
Jim Marshall and his son Terry created the first Marshall amp in 1962, and the gear was subsequently popularized by rockers like Jimi Hendrix and The Who. “We have always looked for ways to deliver the pioneering Marshall sound to music lovers of all backgrounds and music tastes across the world,” Terry Marshall said in a statement. “I’m confident that the Marshall Group will elevate this mission and spur the love for the Marshall brand.”
The Marshall Family will be the largest shareholder of the Marshall Group, holding on to 24%.
Zound first started licensing the Marshall name back in 2010. “We brought the Marshall brand to over 90 countries through the headphones and the speakers,” de Maillard told The Verge. “So it became a much more known brand by the masses than it was before. Before it was the in-the-know, the musicians, people who were really into music who knew about the brand. But through this partnership, we’ve managed to touch a lot more people.”
“We’re very complementary to each other and this deal will enable us to bring together the full range of products and the entire consumer experience under one roof,” de Maillard added in a separate interview with Forbes. “It will allow us to be quicker with innovation and to have a deeper and more holistic connection with musicians and music lovers.”
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