Yamaha acquires Steinberg from Pinnacle

Post, Jan, 2005

BUENA PARK, CA -- Yamaha Corporation (www.yamahaproaudio.com), with head offices in Japan, has entered into an agreement with Pinnacle Systems to acquire 100 percent of its Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH division. Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH is based in Hamburg, Germany, and employs 62 people. Its most notable products are the Nuendo and Cubase digital audio workstation applications. The company was founded in 1984 and became a part of Pinnacle Systems Group in January 2003.

Yamaha forged a relationship with Steinberg in the mid-1990s by using its computer music products and bundled software. In April 2004, Yamaha and Steinberg deepened their relationship with the Studio Connections initiative, a joint-development project to integrate Yamaha's hardware products with Steinberg's software.

As a result of the agreement, Yamaha will acquire all of Steinberg Media Technologies' common stock from Pinnacle Systems along with Steinberg's US sales business operated by Pinnacle. The total value of the transaction is $28.5M and the acquisition will be effective later this month.

With the acquisition, Yamaha plans to further promote the Studio Connection initiative and realize seamless technical integration of hardware, such as synthesizers and digital mixers, and software. Another goal is to expand the market by making it easier for users to create music in a broad variety of genres.