HTC sold back its share of Beats
You may remember when 2 years ago, in August 2011, HTC bought 50.1% share from Beats and became partners with the headphones maker. This led to the technology Beats Audio seen in one of the most beautiful flagships this year – HTC One. However, it seems that HTC has no more interest in keeping its stake in Beats, so it sold back its remaining part of the share today. The company received £164 million for selling the stake back to the founders of Beats. The other half of the 50% of Beats owned by HTC was sold back to the founders last year for the price of £97 million.
After the deal last year, HTC kept 24.84% of the company, but perhaps they are not satisfied with the partnership. No one from HTC has explained why the stake is sold back to the founders of Beats, but it is known that a private equity company from the USA – Carlyle Group – is going to make an investment in Beats, its value said to be £309 million. This means that the value of Beats itself will double, reaching £619 million.
The deal brings a profit of £62 million for HTC, as it bought the stake for £199 million back in year 2011. Last year the shares of HTC fell 3.8 per cent as no one knew why the deal is being carried out. Maybe this year the price will fall again, and maybe this is only a strategic manoeuver and HTC is just planning something. Whatever the case, today HTC said that the last two years have passed in an enjoyable partnership between the two companies and the common aim has been providing superior mobile audio experience to the fans of new mobile technologies. The company promises to continue the partnership with HTC if there are favourable conditions for this.
Source: Mobile News CWP
