Biamp Systems Acquires Creative Audio

In a major expansion of its audio engineering research and development capabilities, BIAMP® Systems today announced the acquisition of Creative Audio, of Brisbane QLD Australia. The acquisition, which was announced by BIAMP Systems President Ralph Lockhart, provides the company with immediate access to a highly evolved and experienced engineering development team that will enable BIAMP Systems to accelerate its R&D programs in digital audio networking technologies.

Currently, Creative Audio products are featured in many prestigious installations throughout the world including the US House of Representatives, the Sydney Opera House, Stadium Australia, and Heathrow Airport. The company has developed forward-looking networked technologies for audio control and communications, as well as advanced paging systems.

"Creative Audio has proven to have a remarkable technical core with a keen understanding of contractor requirements and end-user needs," Lockhart noted. "BIAMP Systems shares this close connection to the market and places a high value on providing innovative approaches that create valuable solutions for our customers. I am confident that our engineering teams, though separated by many miles, will jointly raise the bar in turning out great new products".

Creative Audio was established in Brisbane in 1986 as a technical development group focused on creating engineered product solutions for paging and audio communications applications. The company's products include entertainment communications systems and large scale automated paging control systems.

A CobraNet® licensee, Creative Audio has carefully assembled a team of highly qualified engineers and developed comprehensive in-house research and development capabilities. With dedicated expertise in analog and digital circuit design; professional audio systems engineering; software development and digital signal processing, the Creative Audio engineering team and the BIAMP Systems engineering team are highly complimentary, and the acquisition provides new resources and skill sets in the ongoing product development efforts of the company.

Commenting on the acquisition, Creative Audio Engineering Director, Neil Packer, said, "Rarely in business do companies achieve such a compelling fit as we have achieved with BIAMP today. Our engineering competencies will compliment the work BIAMP is doing extremely well, and there is a strong cultural fit as well".

"Our goal in acquiring Creative Audio was to take two strong design groups and leverage the best of both to apply bright minds and fresh approaches to the development of new product options for our customers," explained Steve Metzger, BIAMP Systems Vice President of Business Development. "Both organizations share a passion for excellence, and this move allows BIAMP to reach into new market opportunities with the same eye for creating forward-thinking solutions as we have with our current products. We're excited about what this means for us and our customers!"

The acquisition has no effect on the product distribution channel. Australian-based Audio Products Group (APG), a leading distributor of premium AV products and a valued Biamp partner, will continue on as BIAMP’s distributor throughout the Oceanic Region. The acquisition of the new organization will provide APG additional opportunities to bring innovative AV solutions to their market.