Thiel Acquired by Private Equity Firm

Pops - I certainly hope it turns into a good thing.

I have such respect for the Thiel brand that I am probably a little overly concerned. Private equity groups are there to make money, but perhaps some growth and efficiencies can be gained without negatively impacting their hard earned reputation as an engineering-first company.

It is odd to me that there was no identification of the private equity group in the press release - standard procedure would be to get their name out. Most PEGs have a 3 to 5 year investment horizon. I would take an educated guess that we will see little change in the next 3 months, but should have a clearer idea of their strategic direction within the next 6 to 9 months...

Fingers crossed. In the meantime, any Thiel fans have their eye on any up and coming speaker designers?

IMHO the marque was just less relevant than in times of yore. The market is moving away from low sensitivity, low impedance, speakers and perhaps the core fans of the brand were just not enough to sustain it in a changing environment. The relentless move upmarket probably didn't help.

The article doesn't state it, but (I assume it's the same guy) Bill Thomas (new CEO) is a partner at GKB Capital in Kansas City. AFAIK, they're more an agency/advisory shop than a principal, so the deal is a little unusual. It also makes it hard to know from GKB's track record what they might have in mind for the company.

Marty

Metman...what a dumb comment. With the infusion of money the value of the company can grow if it has viability. ....if not....it deserves to become history

While I'm still relatively new to this hobby (7-10 years), it didn't take long to realize that the individual designers are the leaders in this industry. Everyone else follows. Professionally speaking, Jim's passing dealt a serious blow to Thiel Audio. Jim was Thiel Audio.

That said, I think it is a given that Thiel Audio will never be the same. I'm not suggesting the demise of the company, just suggesting that it has to be different because the leadership will be different.

The acquisition of Thiel by a PEG is a good thing; without it Thiel probably closes and locks the doors.

The question is, what direction will the leadership steer this company? Without a doubt, a positive return on investment will be the number one priority. I suppose, though, that the PEG could be managed/owned by audio enthusiasts with more money than sense.

Two comments made in the press release to keep in mind: new product categories and manufacturing efficiencies. Will the new categories take away resources from the current line of speakers? My guess is that the R&D facilities will be leveraged to introduce the new products. In theory, this will allow the company to sell at current prices with an increased margin or to sell at the same margin but at lower prices. Secondly, can they improve the efficiency of the manufacturing and keep the quality constant? Cabinet construction is a significant portion of speaker manufacturing. Do they try to "cut corners" by outsourcing?

Thiel Audio is a rarity these days as they are an American company which actually still designs and manufactures it's products. This PEG needs to have engineering, branding and manufacturing expertise if they want to be successful long term.

I too find it odd that the PEG only identified themselves as being from Nashville. Any information we can learn about the PEG history and expertise will probably be telling.

Thanks for the post. I will be watching closely.