Lawo Adds InnovaSon To Its Network

From left: Xavier Pion, sales and marketing director, InnovaSon; G�rard Malvot, CTO, InnovaSon; Philipp Lawo, CEO, LawoTORONTO, ON, CANADA-German-based broadcast hardware manufacturer Lawo has acquired a majority stake in InnovaSon, the French digital audio console pioneer. The move officially terminates InnovaSon's period of receivership, which began last July.
Talking to SCN, Lawo CEO Philipp Lawo says the acquisition "gives InnovaSon financial and technical strength-and the chance to have a strong partner once again, perhaps even for the first time."
From any standpoint, the bringing together of the two companies seems a fine fit. Lawo is an internationally renowned developer and manufacturer of digital consoles and matrix systems for the broadcast industry, while InnovaSon has a broad base of customers in live touring sound, as well as in the fixed installation market, where the brand has won many fans in theaters and churches.
"We will continue to have two brands and two philosophies," Lawo, added "and we will continue to focus on the specific needs of our customers. But technically we can share a lot of knowledge, and arrive at a common understanding of how digital technology should best be applied to different markets."
Lawo sees an increasing integration with data networks as being key to the future of digital mixing, and said, "InnovaSon has a long tradition of using EtherSound, which has become quite a standard in the live world, and there's no reason to modify or leave that path. Lawo has other technology, based on MADI and other common standards, which is very widely used in broadcast and gives us WAN access as an interface. What we have now is the chance to integrate these two worlds, combining what is best about each into a single, big integrated system."
Lawo also sees his company's highly established international dealer network as being key to InnovaSon's future development, but adds that there are no plans to change distribution channels in North America.
"Our company philosophy is based on trust and relationships, and if there are good partnerships, in North America or anywhere else, then we would like to support them and make them stronger," Lawo explained.
"This isn't the time to change everything. It's the time to bring InnovaSon back into the center of things. They already have some great products and networking options, which make them the right choice for a large number of projects. We will be keeping the factory in Brittany, keeping the existing management, keeping the resources. And customers who have stayed loyal to InnovaSon are going to be handsomely repaid."