 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-07-03 03:22
If Kohlberg & Co. is associated with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Conn/Selmer is doomed, and quickly, too. KKR is a crunch-em, suck-em-dry and flee corporate raider, infamous for buying up modestly profitable companies, firing their workers, demolishing their facilities and pocketing the cash.
If it's another Kohlberg, there may be hope, but not if it's KKR. Conn/Selmer would get more pity from a great white shark or a flock of buzzards.
Just my opinion.
Ken Shaw
Post Edited (2013-07-04 15:47)
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Author: slickam
Date: 2013-07-03 05:08
Based on their wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg_%26_Company) it's a different company formed by former employees of KKR.
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Author: jbutler ★2017
Date: 2013-07-03 13:58
As I stated in a couple of other sites I believe the profitable parts of the company will be sold and the rest will be dismantled.
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2013-07-03 17:58
Yes this is one of the K's in KKR as in the 1980's LBO craze
So yes, Selmer Conn and Steinway have much to fear.
This is a sorry development for the music world and the only good that can come of it will be perhaps some lower margin businesses (think the artisan products for woodwinds) will be spun off and land in the hands of a partnership that wants the machinery to make their own line.
So perhaps Morrie or Luis will end up with the LeBlanc/Selmer machinery at a great price.
But the bigger issue for music will be what happens to Steinway pianos and the hand crafting that goes into their concert hall grand pianos. My guess is that much of that will start to be mechanized and built in China.
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Author: DougR
Date: 2013-07-03 23:01
If you're in the NYC area and want to see how fine pianos were sold back when there was respect for such things, better stop by the Steinway studios on 57th street and take a last look around the showroom and the upstairs; according to the above article, the building was sold in June and doubtless will be demolished, or (equally bad) "adaptively reused" into some sort of boutique hotel or a retail facility for purveying high-price claptrap. The interior, especially the upstairs studios, is nicely preserved from when Rubinstein was a pup, and you could occasionally hear fine musicians warming up, anonymously, behind the paneled doors. If there was any justice, it should have been landmarked years ago.
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2013-07-04 01:15
In a strange sort of way, Conn-Selmer reminds me of the large banks that were regarded as too big to fail. I was trying to think of instrument brand names that are not part of this company (I'm thinking mainly about student and step-up instruments), and there aren't many. There's Yamaha and the lower-priced offerings from Buffet, but not many others. Conn-Selmer makes quality instruments, and it would be a major loss if they disappeared.
The company has had some labor problems in recent years, and that might be a factor. For anyone interested, here's an interesting link: http://www.connselmerstrike.com/
Perhaps this acquisition could be a good thing. Let's be optimistic! Kohlberg and Co. owns such companies as Bauer Hockey and Trico (wiper blades), and perhaps they will see the value of keeping the Steinway and Conn-Selmer traditions alive.
Post Edited (2013-07-04 01:16)
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2013-07-04 02:48
clarinetguy wrote:
> Perhaps this acquisition could be a good thing. Let's be
> optimistic! Kohlberg and Co. owns such companies as Bauer
> Hockey and Trico (wiper blades), and perhaps they will see the
> value of keeping the Steinway and Conn-Selmer traditions alive.
>
I suspect that the few premium brands under that Steinway/Conn-Selmer umbrella will stick around. It wouldn't surprise me however if most/all of the lesser quality trademarks get sold. I believe that this process already started a few years ago as there used to be a lot more brands listed on the Conn-Selmer website. I do know that they sold the "Bundy" trademark and I no longer see either the "Martin" trademark listed either (and I will note that I will be genuinely pissed if a Chinese crap-sax comes out with the Martin name on it).
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2013-07-05 18:23
In the newest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, there is a two-sentence item about this acquisition. According the magazine, "Kohlberg hopes to expand global sales for the 160-year-old company, which also makes saxophones, trumpets, clarinets, and drums." (p. 42)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-07-06 01:57
Selmer was sold again and again. Each time, the buyer moved the records to a bigger and less organized warehouse. The people who knew the history and could trace instrument lineages are long gone, and each sale put a new layer of don't-know-and-aren't-paid-to-find-out people between players, historians and the Selmer records.
This last sale is a tragedy, but most of the damage had already been done. I think that this is in fact the reason it went down the way it did.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2013-08-15 14:11
> Perhaps this acquisition could be a good thing. Let's be
> optimistic! Kohlberg and Co. owns such companies as Bauer
> Hockey and Trico (wiper blades), and perhaps they will see the
> value of keeping the Steinway and Conn-Selmer traditions alive.
>
Revisiting this thread because this sale fell through. According to this morning's Washington Post (Digest, p. A14, available online at http://www.washingtonpost.com):
>>Steinway Musical Instruments, best known for its grand pianos, agreed on Wednesday to be taken private by Paulson & Co. after the hedge fund firm raised its offer to $40 per share, valuing the 160-year-old company at about $512 million. Steinway shares rose 8 percent, to $41.29, above the Paulson bid, suggesting that some investors expect a higher offer. >>
So the apparent acceptance of the Paulson offer isn't necessarily the final deal, either. I don't know anything about Paulson or what that transaction might mean for the fate of Conn-Selmer.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2013-08-15 15:15
Only tangentially related to this thread, but:
I recommend viewing the documentary "Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037," which, if you're not familiar with piano building, will give you some idea hands-on, not "machines-on" is so necessary for high-end instruments. (It's available on Netflix.)
B.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-08-15 19:20
Who apparently also owns three Steinways.
Karl
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