Apple Rumored to Acquire Loewe, a German HDTV Manufacturer

[Akshay Masand]

Apple is rumored to be negotiating the acquisition of Loewe AG, a manufacturer and distributor of televisions, audio components and integrated entertainment systems. The final decision regarding the acquisition is said to be announced later this week.

As of right now, the offer has yet to be accepted but an inside source is claiming that Loewe “has been advised by its financial advisor to accept the offer and a financial decision is scheduled to be announced internally before May 18, 2012.” It is being said that Apple is confidentially offering 87.3 million euros (roughly $112 million U.S.), a number that is a slight premium over the firm’s last closing share price of 4.519 euros (which gives it a market cap of 58.79 million euros or $76 million U.S.). Loewe’s primary shareholders currently include Sharp and LaCie as of right now with 28.83% and 11.17% shares respectively.

The news is particularly interesting due to rumors of Apple preparing to launch its high-definition television set. Loewe, which entered the TV market in 1929 employs roughly 1,000 workers worldwide in 50 countries that continue to be “made in Germany.” The company has seen its sales fall by 11% over the last year, which generated a loss of 10.5 million Euro ($13.57 million U.S.) in 2011. The company did report a resurgence in market growth due to its premium products recently.

The acquisition of such a company would probably lead to further advancements in the HDTV space for Apple so we’ll have to wait and see if such a deal goes through.

Source: AppleInsider

[BhadKarma]

It's all in the mix ... IPhone 5 and HDTV gonna hurt the market competition I think..not that I'm
An apple fanboy u just know when they come It's gonna be popular and in demand.... But still theyre very pricey electronics. Cut those prices by 200-400$ and they'd get more buyers along with the willing to over pay...

[barryson77]

It's all in the mix ... IPhone 5 and HDTV gonna hurt the market competition I think..not that I'm
An apple fanboy u just know when they come It's gonna be popular and in demand.... But still theyre very pricey electronics. Cut those prices by 200-400$ and they'd get more buyers along with the willing to over pay...

true LOEWE is HDTV's are very expensive,they got an Apple built design,always when im in Saturn store in Hamburg,i always call LOEWE the Apple HDTV section lol

[N1NJ4]

Exciting news for me, put my name on the reserved list.

[Orby]

Perhaps this is an acquisition more for LCD panels/technology/manufacturing than it is for actual TVs. Apple does use a crap-ton of LCD panels (many of small TV size) in its products (iMac, cinema displays, MBP, etc.), and Loewe does manufacture its own panels as far as I am aware.