Gibson Guitar, a US-based maker of musical instruments, has taken a stake in Japan-based Onkyo as part of a diversification into consumer audio.
Onkyo makes audio equipment to fit in Gibson’s newly-formed Pro Audio Division. In return, Gibson will provide Onkyo with marketing.
Gibson will acquire a majority of Onkyo USA (Onkyo’s exclusive distributor for North America and a distributor for Central and South America) and become the second largest shareholder in Onkyo itself. Henry Juszkiewicz, executive chairman of Gibson, will go on Onkyo’s board.
Onkyo will also invest in Gibson, and its executive president, Munenori Otsuki, will take a position on the US company’s board.
Onkyo and Gibson will also form a Hong Kong-based joint venture focusing on design and development of consumer audio products.
Juszkiewicz said: "While people may be listening to more music, they are listening to it primarily in a severely compressed format. The aural disparity between a real system and compressed sound is vast, and as a result, they are simply not hearing tremendously rich sounds."