Gibson purchases stake in Onkyo, announces strategic partnership

Gibson continues to make moves in the audio space: it bought the Stanton Group last month, and now it has purchased a large chunk of Onkyo. The deal makes Gibson the second-largest shareholder of Onkyo, and gives it a majority stake in Onkyo USA, the Japanese company’s sole North American distributor. With the move, Gibson is bolstering its new Pro Audio Division, which the company formed following the acquisition of the Stanton Group. In addition, Gibson will be making a play at consumers in a Hong Kong-based joint venture with Onkyo that’ll focus on creating consumer-grade audio products. The two CEOs will also sit on the other company’s board of directors, and Onkyo hopes to gain some of the instrument-maker’s “marketing resources and expertise.” That’s all we know for now — we’ll just have to wait and see what these two can make together after the deal is approved by Japanese regulators.