Logitech announced its acquisition of popular earbud company Jaybird. The deal, which is said to cost $50 million in cash, can have an additional earn-out amount of up to $45 million if growth targets are met in the next two years.
Logitech confirmed that it intends to keep the Jaybird brand intact even after the deal becomes finalized. Jaybird said the company will benefit as a brand from the deal and made no mention of shutting down as a result.
"The Jaybird team will have all the scope to innovate they had before," says Logitech in a blog post. "They'll continue to feed the Jaybird brand and design products like the latest X2 wireless buds."
Logitech also said that the acquisition is focused largely on how the company has perceived the growth of audio and music-listening products. It understands how Jaybird, which was established 10 years ago, has managed to successfully launch a number of headphones. These include wireless headphones, Bluetooth headphones and the well-loved Jaybird BlueBuds X headphones.
"Jaybird hit on a great idea of making products for people actively engaged in sports and who wanted music to power their passion for their sport," said Logitech. "With the right product (and Jaybird makes them), you can now pursue your sport with your music. It's a potent combination."
Judd Armstrong, founder and CEO of Jaybird, said that the company will continue to innovate and create amazing new products and that it will definitely benefit from Logitech's deep engineering prowess and global distribution network.
Logitech started connecting people using computers more than 30 years ago. Now, the company is into designing products that aim to bring people together by way of music, video, gaming and computing.
In 2008, Logitech acquired Ultimate Ears (UE), a U.S. company known for making custom in-ear monitors (IEM), wireless Bluetooth speakers and earphones. Since the acquisition, Logitech has launched a number of portable speakers and headphones, all under the UE label.
Logitech's deal with Jaybird is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks and will still be subject to certain conditions and approval. Jaybird will get exclusive financial advice from Stifel during the acquisition process.
Bracken Darrell, Logitech president and CEO, said that as Logitech and Jaybird become one as a team, the company can address the fast-increasing wireless audio wearables market and expand its music business for a long-term growth potential.
