On the other hand...
...if done right, change can be a VERY good thing. It is often the difference between survival or death, and between bare survival or thriving success. Were that not the case, we would still have been tree dwelling monkeys, enjoying the audiophile sound of waterfalls and swishing grass
Ultimately, ML's stakeholders are its shareholders which in this case are its private owners (Shoreview and whoever else now owns them; I suspect and hope the founders still have some shares although that hasnt been clear from the press releases). Responsible owners always realize that the long-term, actual "owners" of any company are
really its customers. To keep customers happy, you have to have an "edge" (e.g. an idea, an innovation) over the competition and you have to attract and retain talent that can help you convert that "edge" into actual products that customers see as valuable. Finance and company management is ultimately that simple to define, but incredibly more difficult to execute.
If ML/Shoreview "get" the above Paradigm (no pun intended), they have an opportunity to transform ML. Transformation would IMO be from a beloved, succesful but frankly just a small, likely moderate margin, mom-and-pop outfit into a highly succesful, global, even more beloved, profitable, stable audiophile institution that retains all of the magic of the past, but allows a growing clientele to enjoy it and the most competitive prices possible. ML is not an institution today but it has the opportunity to become one. I suspect there are very few institutions in high end audio/video.
If ML/Shoreview don't "get" the above paradigm, they will without question destroy ML as a brand and a company, likely losing their own shirts in the pursuit of near-term profits. There is also a chance that they will milk ML, sell it to the next idiot, and get out.
But I hope they get the above paradigm, recognize the value of what they have bought and make it even better while malking it bigger and more profitable.
I don't personally know the Shoreview team but I hope they don't forget that the highway is red with the roadkills of failed Private Equity-owned companies. Some failed after the PE shops had returned their profits and got out. Others failed while still being PE-owned, thereby going down with their owner's shirts.
what would others on this forum do if they owned ML?
"ShoreView Industries Inc., based in Minneapolis, manages a $300 million private equity limited partnership. ShoreView invests this partnership in established, middle-market companies with operations in North America, across a wide range of industries. ShoreView structures a variety of acquisition, recapitalization and build-up transactions, typically in businesses with revenues ranging between $20 million and $150 million.
