NAB 2010: Avid Takes Audio Console Maker Euphonix

LAS VEGAS: Shares of editing specialist Avid shot up after it agreed to buy audio console maker Euphonix for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition expands Avid’s Icon control-surface business into the Euphonix line. All brands will be continued after the purchase of Euphonix, which makes large-format digital audio consoles, media controllers and peripherals. The deal is expected to go down by the end of April.

Avid (NASDAQ: AVID) shares dipped slightly following the news but rebounded to a year-to-date high, closing today at $16.84. Avid, based in Tewkesbury, Mass., posted revenues of $174.7 million for the fourth quarter of last year, up from three consecutive quarters where revenues hovered around $151 million. Net loss was up slightly, however, to $17.9 million from $17.2 million on higher selling, administrative and general expenses. Avid will announce first-quarter 2010 results April 22.

Euphonix, located in Mountain View, Calif., ended 2008 posting what it described as its “best annual revenues for over 10 years.” Specific figures were not disclosed. Euphonix has not reported revenues since early in the decade. Its last public disclosure was for the third quarter of 2001, when it posted revenues of $1.83 million. The previous four quarters finished with revenues between around $4.5 million and $5.2 million.

Avid’s intention is to develop “an open standard protocol that greatly expands the ecosystem of compatibility between the Euphonix control surfaces and a wide range of Avid and third-party audio and video applications,” including Media Composer and Pro Tools. For existing Euphonix customers, Avid will continue to support EuCon, the Euphonix high-speed Ethernet protocol that enables its control surfaces to interface with third-party software.

“This acquisition greatly expands our portfolio to offer customers a complementary set of workflow solutions--from independent producers creating music in their home studios to broadcasters preparing segments for national broadcast,” said Gary Greenfield, chairman and CEO of Avid.