THX Sold to Leading Gaming Lifestyle Brand Razer

THX announced that Razer, a global lifestyle brand for gamers, has acquired the majority of the assets of THX Ltd., and brought onboard the management and employees of the company. THX will continue to operate as an independent entity under its own management and apart from the ongoing business of its parent company. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
 
“Razer and THX share storied histories of commitment to excellence,” the announcement states. The acquisition follows an active growing period for THX, which in recent months expanded its certification program to live entertainment and concert experiences. “Under the new ownership, THX will maintain its core mission – to provide quality entertainment experiences in the cinema, in the home and on the go – while simultaneously being propelled into new categories in order to address evolving consumer needs,” they add.

“For over 30 years, THX has maintained a proud legacy of being one of the leaders in audio technology and certification worldwide,” says Laurie Fincham, senior vice president of Audio Research and Development at THX. “With their focus on quality, design and innovation, Razer supports our vision to optimize and deliver the best audiovisual experiences to audiences worldwide.”

Razer Co-Founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan adds that “Razer has a vision for innovation at every level of entertainment, a vision which THX has championed since its inception more than 30 years ago. This acquisition will allow us to reinforce Razer’s leadership in gaming and extend the brand into broader areas of entertainment, while at the same time empowering THX to develop into a global powerhouse, independently.”

“Our focus has always been on ensuring that anyone can experience high quality entertainment, regardless of their medium of choice. With Razer, we can now continue to strengthen our core lines of business while delivering excellence for our customers’ ever-changing needs,” says Ty Ahmad-Taylor, CEO of THX. “As a standalone company, THX will work with Razer but will primarily continue to service our partners in the industry in order to deliver great products to consumers.”

The company CEO also added a few interesting remarks regarding the sale of his company to Razer in a blog post with the title: “A New Beginning for THX: Why I Sold My Company in My First Year”. According to Ty Ahmad-Taylor, this is what he said he would do when he arrived and now he managed to sell the company, ensuring the resources THX needs to “continue to focus on providing superior audio-video experiences in the home, in the cinema, on the go, in your cars and concerts.”

Ahmad-Taylor also reaffirmed THX three main lines of business, continuing to grow the certification business, “acting as a guarantor of audio-video quality for consumer electronics companies, cinema chains, online streaming services, cable and satellite operators as well as auto makers;” expanding into “the world’s biggest performers and the largest venues to provide best in class audio experiences” with THX Live!; and also expanding THX activities in making “consumer products sound better, perform better, and deliver the best acoustic experience possible,” with the THX Inside program.
  Under the new CEO leadership, THX was already expanding its reach into additional certification activities, such as headphones, Bluetooth speakers, streaming video, set-top boxes and multi-room connected speakers. This effectively makes complete sense for a company like Razer, as Ahmad-Taylor explains: “We sold because Razer gives us a rock-solid foundation for executing on the three core areas of business. 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.)"

“THX certification programs are an assurance to consumers of uncompromised quality, as well as best-in-class performance and consistency, in order to truthfully deliver the artist’s vision to audiences around the globe. The THX certification program has since expanded to audio electronics, non-Internet-connected speakers, TVs, projectors, automotive audio systems and live entertainment. Moving forward, THX will focus on the expansion of its current certification program to include new technologies, such as immersive audio and HDR, and the introduction of whole new programs, such as headphone certification and, in the future, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality experiences and their enabling devices,” the company’s press release states.

About THX
Founded by legendary filmmaker George Lucas in 1983, THX and its partners provide premium entertainment experiences in the cinema, in the home and on the go. Over the past thirty years, THX has expanded its certification categories past studios and cinemas to consumer electronics, content, automotive systems and THX Live!, a live-entertainment certification program that premiered at Beyoncé’s 2016 Formation World Tour. Today, THX continues to redefine entertainment, providing assurance of superior quality and high performance experiences that guarantee an artist’s vision is truthfully delivered to audiences worldwide.

About Razer
Razer is a manufacturer of connected devices and software for gamers. Having won the coveted “Best of CES” award consecutively for six years, the company’s product innovation continues to create new categories for the gaming community that is estimated to have over 1 billion gamers worldwide. Razer’s technology includes an array of user interface and systems devices, voice-over IP for gamers and a cloud platform for customizing and enhancing gaming devices. Founded in 2005, Razer is backed by Intel Capital, IDG-Accel and Heliconia Capital Management (Heliconia), a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore investment company Temasek.
www.thx.com | www.razerzone.com