THX will continue to operate as an independent company though CEO Ty Ahmad-Taylor hinted the possibility of an upcoming collaboration
Singaporean gaming hardware company Razer today announced that it has acquired the majority of THX Ltd.’s shares, the audio technology pioneer founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas in 1983.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed though Razer stated that it has also hired the management team and employees of THX.
THX itself will continue to operate as an independent company under its own management and apart of its ongoing business of the new parent company. It will have the discretion to seek agreements with other product makers, service providers and financial partners.
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“Personally, I’ve been a fan of THX for most of my life. I appreciate what the people at THX have done to build, maintain and extend such a brand with a passionate following. Professionally, the best-in-class audio video certifications, intellectual property and technology vision of THX is relevant to our fans and followers, as well as audiovisual enthusiasts generally,” Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan told VentureBeat.
“The THX audiovisual designers and engineers are the most talented of their kind in the world. I can suggest this with some authority, having personally worked with Laurie Fincham and his team when we embarked on the Razer|THX Mako project those years ago,” he continued.
In a Medium post, THX CEO Ty Ahmad-Taylor explained how the acquisition was part of his first-year plan for the company.
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“We sold because Razer gives us a rock-solid foundation for executing on the three core areas of business,” he wrote.
“We will function as a standalone unit. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if we launched a few joint products with Razer. I am reporting to Min-Liang Tan, the CEO of Razer, and he and I have a shared vision for creating great products that solve customer problems (his in gaming, mine in audio-video,” he further explained.
The CEO also explained about how the acquisition will affect overall gaming market.
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“As gaming bridges into VR, we expect to play a leadership role in the audio portion of that experience, which is crucial for completion the immersion into virtual worlds,” he wrote.
California-based Razer recently launched a US$30 million fund to fund IoT, VR/AR, big data analytics, robotics and Android gaming platforms. It has raised over US$125 million and is valued at over US$1 billion.
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