Wadia Digital and Hales Design Group Join Forces

Merger mania in high-end land: Loudspeaker manufacturer Hales Design Group and digital audio manufacturer Wadia Digital Corporation are joining forces to create what the companies' executives are calling "new digital products for the new millennium." The announcement was made February 14 at Wadia headquarters in River Falls, Wisconsin.

Under terms of the merger, Hales Design Group, based in Huntington Beach, California, will operate as a division of Wadia while retaining its own brand identity. Throughout the company's six-year history, Hales loudspeakers have won numerous industry awards and glowing praise from reviewers. The new venture will combine engineering expertise from both companies for what the announcement termed "a series of new and innovative products for traditional two-channel music and multichannel music and film applications. The products will combine the sophistication of Wadia's digital electronics and power amplification technologies with Hales' extraordinary loudspeaker technology."

Hales Design Group founder and president L. Paul Hales will assume the title of vice president at Wadia, and will direct loudspeaker development and product development. The merger, he said, "will also help us pursue a more aggressive product development program in 2000 and beyond, a strategy that will make Hales the brand to have for specialty audio/video retailers and custom installers."

Wadia's president, Stephen Jeffery, was equally enthusiastic about the deal's potential: "We have tremendous respect for what Hales has accomplished in designing and manufacturing its innovative speakers and establishing itself as a premier loudspeaker brand. Hales provides a significant opportunity for growth in both domestic and international markets."

"By joining forces with Wadia we significantly enhance our operating, sales, and distribution capabilities," Hales said. Details about new products will emerge in the coming months.

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