Legendary amp-maker Marshall Amplification has been acquired by the Swedish audio firm Zound Industries.
The sale – first reported by The Verge – marks the end of the Marshall family's ownership of the company, which stretches back to its initial founding in 1962. The Marshall family, however, will remain deeply involved with the company that bears its name under Zound's ownership.
According to The Verge, the family will serve as the largest stakeholder of the amp brand's new parent company, the Marshall Group, with a 24 percent stake. Terry and Victoria Marshall, children of the late Marshall patriarch Jim Marshall, will serve on the Group's board.
Zound has been working with Marshall since 2010, producing headphones and wireless speakers under the latter company's name.
“We’ve already been working in close collaboration for the past 12 years,” Zound CEO Jeremy de Maillard said of Marshall in a statement. “We haven’t done a single product from Zound that hasn’t been approved by the acoustic engineer at Marshall Amps. It’s a complete continuation of what we do, except now we’re one and the same.”
“Since my father and I created the original Marshall amp back in 1962, we have always looked for ways to deliver the pioneering Marshall sound to music lovers of all backgrounds and music tastes across the world – and I’m confident that the Marshall Group will elevate this mission and spur the love for the Marshall brand,” Terry Marshall said of the deal.
“With Marshall Group, the potential to further impact an ever-modernizing music industry is a highly genuine one," added Victoria Marshall. "Together, we will preserve the Marshall legacy and shape the future of ‘Live Loud’. Having worked alongside my father during his later years, I know he would be excited at this direction and the potential to reach a larger worldwide audience with innovation and passion which he always had in spades.”
The acquisition includes all of Marshall's brands – Marshall Amplification, Natal Drums, Marshall Records, and the Marshall Live Agency.
For more info on the Marshall Group, visit zoundindustries.com.
