End of the turntable: Pioneer spins out its DJ equipment unit
PIONEER, famous for helping millions of music-lovers to party the night away with its turntables, is spinning out the audio equipment arm of its business in a £550m deal.
It will sell the new business, Pioneer DJ, to private equity firm KKR early next year.
Pioneer currently makes speakers, turntables and mixers used by DJs around the world but is seeking to refocus its business towards automotive electronics.
“We’re trying to transform our auto-related business and are investing a lot into that and realised we had to concentrate our resources.
“We realised we wouldn’t be able to invest in the DJ business so it would be better to spin it off and grow it independently,” chief executive and president of Pioneer Susumu Kotani said yesterday.
The group’s DJ business is highly profitable and currently claims a 60 per cent share of the global market, but it requires significant new investment to grow further, it is understood.