RASTATT, GERMANY and BRITTANY, FRANCE – German pro audio company Lawo, a company that specializes in the development of consoles and matrix systems in the broadcast market, has acquired majority ownership of French digital mixing console manufacturer Innovason, a move that marks the end of Innovason’s receivership period.
Lawo CEO Philipp Lawo says the acquisition is intended to strengthen the Innovason brand in the live audio market with strong financial backing and technological support. Although the company will own a majority interest, Lawo stresses that Innovason will remain an independent entity focused on its core market.
“Lawo will stay as a leading brand in the broadcast industry and Innovason will get back into the business of live sound with a much stronger brand, much stronger financial partner, but also a wider basis of future technologies,” Lawo says.
The company’s headquarters will remain in Brittany, France, and “former management will continue to be the future management,” Lawo says.
Interest in acquiring Innovason first came about six months ago after the Eurovision Song Contest, a live competition between European countries to see who has the most popular music. Lawo technologies were used for the broadcast mix during the event, while Innovason consoles were used for front of house and monitors. “I got closer to the product and saw them in operation and thought it would be nice to work together with them,” Lawo says. “ It turned out that Innovason was under receivership, so we had a chance of combining it.”
That event became the starting point of negotiations between the two companies.
Lawo says the biggest future challenge will be to bring Innovason back to a leading position in the market and in the minds of consumers.
“In this industry, broadcast as well as live, most of the business to the customer is based on a personal trust and long-term relationship. We are definitely going to try and protect that and use it as a basis of further development,” Lawo says.
While both companies will focus on their markets, Lawo says he is looking forward to future synergies between the two technologies and hinted at possible collaboration between the broadcast and live sound technologies.
“In the future, there might be some kind of integration of the two worlds and maybe some surprising development in the future to bring together the broadcast and live sound business. It may be two different brands, but under one umbrella,” Lawo says.
Innovason is based at Plougoumelen in Brittany, France. The company sold the first digital audio snakes and was the first to produce all-digital, premium live mixing consoles. Active in live sound since 1993, the company has gained a worldwide reputation for its rugged, digital mixing console technology for live applications.
Lawo is a specialist in developing, designing and manufacturing mixing consoles and matrix systems for radio and TV broadcasters as well as the live domain. The company has over 38 years of experience in the field of professional audio technology. Lawo develops and manufactures digital audio mixing consoles for radio, broadcast, production and live applications including the required software. Lawo also manufactures matrix systems and audio networks, carries out project engineering and acts as a main contractor for radio OB vans.
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For more information please visit www.innovason.com and www.lawo.de
