Sound United adds Classé Audio to its portfolio

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The parent company to brands including Denon and Marantz has acquired the Canadian hi-fi firm Classé from Bowers & Wilkins.

Sound United is a portfolio company of Charlesbank Capital Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm. More pertinently, and more excitingly, Sound United has just added Montreal-based Classé Audio to its burgeoning roster of home cinema and hi-fi brands.

Classé Audio was previously owned and distributed by Bowers & Wilkins. "Acquiring Classé Audio demonstrates Sound United's continued focus on catering to our customers, who crave performance and innovation. This acquistion [continues] Sound United's evolution as a premium player," says Sound United CEO Kevin Duffy.

"Ultimately, this is an excellent opportunity for Classé employees, customers and strategic partners to bring our energy and ideas to the forefront," adds Classé Audio President Dave Nauber.

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As well as Denon and Marantz, Sound United owns (among others) Polk Audio, Definitive Technology and Boston Acoustics.

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Simon Lucas

Simon Lucas is a technology journalist, with a strong emphasis on the audio/video side of consumer electronics and home entertainment, and has been since 2003. He worked for more than 14 years at What Hi-Fi?, the last six of which were spent as the editor of the magazine and website. Since then he's written for Wired, The Guardian, TechRadar, Stuff, GQ and many more besides. 

In the course of his career he's developed a pretty deep understanding of the way both the publishing and the electronics industries function, as well as the sort of intimate knowledge of audio products (both specific and general) that can make people very wary of him at parties.