Avid, the brand behind Pro Tools, has announced that it's agreed to be be acquired by an affiliate of private equity firm STG. The deal values the company at $1.4 billion and is expected to be closed before the end of the year.
Once the deal is completed, Avid will become a privately held company; its current stockholders will receive $27.05 for each share of Avid stock, a figure that's 32.1% more than the closing share price in May on the day before media speculation regarding the sale began.
One of the biggest brands in pro audio, Avid is the manufacturer of a variety of multimedia tools including the DAW Pro Tools, video editing software Media Composer and score editor Sibelius. Pro Tools is an industry-standard DAW used in recording studios across the globe.
Avid's acquisition is another example of a leading music technology brand bought up by private equity; in 2021, investment firm Francisco Partners acquired Native Instruments. Earlier this year, Moog was purchased by inMusic, the owner of Akai, Alesis and M-Audio. The corporate consolidation of music tech was expertly covered by content creator Benn Jordan in a recent video; if you're interested in where this could lead, we recommend watching.
In a statement, STG's Managing Partner William Chisholm said that "STG has admired Avid’s heritage as a category creator and pioneer in the media and entertainment software market for many years [...] We look forward to leveraging our experience as software investors to accelerate Avid’s growth trajectory with a deep focus on technological innovation, and by delivering enhanced value for Avid’s customers."
