Harman’s $365 million acquisition of AMX from the Duchossois Group last week has created “lots of energy and lots of excitement” for employees of the automation giant, and could also create new opportunities overseas and abroad in houses of worship, events and more.
That’s the early verdict from AMX VP of global marketing Joe Andrulis, who talked about the deal during the most recent episode of AV Week.
Because Harman is a public company and the sale isn’t finalized yet, Andrulis was somewhat limited in what he could say about the move, but he provided as many details as he could about what the future may hold for AMX.
AMX becomes “part of a portfolio of AV brands” under its new parent company, joining Harman’s professional group, one of three divisions of the company, along with lifestyle (residential) and info-tainment (cars).
Andrulis sees the opportunity for an “accelerated trajectory” for AMX as part of the Harman family, and pointed to India and China as two markets where the company can expand its reach and events and houses of worship as two markets where it could now find more work.
“It’s not about us shifting our strategy,” he says. “It’s more about us finding new opportunities to leverage that strategy. This certainly increases our visibility in the channel.”
When discussing the timing of the deal, Andrulis joked with the panel that it was all about being the center of attention at InfoComm 2014 in a few weeks.
“When we heard Microsoft was moving in and getting all the buzz, we had to do something to get a little attention,” he says. Andrulis added the deal could become official before InfoComm 2014 kicks off in Las Vegas June 18.
To hear more of the discussion about the Harman-AMX deal, watch the full episode of AV Week:
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