Cattaneo Corporate Finance has advised the shareholders of Linea Research on its £12.6 million sale to Focusrite plc.
Linea designs and manufactures professional audio equipment. Focusrite (AIM:TUNE) is a global music and audio products company supplying hardware and software used by professional and amateur musicians and the entertainment industry with a stable of brands including Focusrite Pro, Martin Audio, ADAM Audio, Ampify Music and Sequential.
The total consideration to be paid is £12.6 million in cash including cash balances in Linea of approximately £1 million and including £0.5m to be paid in cash subject to certain performance conditions relating to the period ending May 2023.
Linea, headquartered in Letchworth Garden City, designs, develops, manufactures and markets innovative professional audio equipment globally. Its products include a range of ground-breaking amplifiers, including the world-renowned M Series, together with Digital Signal Processors, audio networking and software products. Two of the original founders, Davey Smalley, Commercial Director, and Ben Ver, Engineering Director, will continue to lead the business post-acquisition.
The acquisition strengthens the critical source of supply of amplifier modules for Focusrite subsidiary Martin Audio, and will enable greater integration of loudspeaker and amplifier technology in Martin Audio products. It is also the intention to continue to develop the sales of Linea products through third-party distribution and to OEM loudspeaker customers.
The Cattaneo team of Martyn Pilley and Scott Peters provided corporate finance advice to the shareholders of Linea who received legal advice from Emma Callow and Tom Wisniewski of Irwin Mitchell’s Birmingham office and tax advice from Lisa Stevenson of Birmingham-based Parisi Tax.
Davey Smalley and Ben Ver, Directors at Linea said:
“We are delighted to be able to continue the Linea success story from within the Focusrite Group. Having seen the support and growth of the brands within the Group, we believe this provides us with a secure foundation to further our R&D efforts and product portfolio, strengthening the Linea brand while continuing partnerships with our long-standing OEM partners.”
Martyn Pilley of Cattaneo commented:
“We have worked with Linea since before the pandemic over which time we built up a detailed understanding of the business. With the continuing recovery of the global live entertainment market the timing of joining the Focusrite group is perfect for both businesses.”
Davey Smalley added:
“On behalf of the Linea shareholders I would like to thank the Cattaneo team for all their help and hard work on the transaction, we couldn’t have got there without them and we are incredibly appreciative of their efforts. The team made us feel as though we were their only client which we know definitely wasn’t the case. Their tenacity in dealing with the inevitable challenges that arose was impressive and we appreciated their ability to act as the interface between our relatively small team and a much larger counterparty throughout the inevitably extensive due diligence process.”
Cattaneo Corporate FInance has advised the shareholders of Linea Research on the £12.6m sale to Focusrite plc