The DOJ has cleared Fort Mill, S.C.-based Muzak LLC and Austin, Texas-based DMX Inc. to proceed with a proposed merger of the companies to allow for a sale to a third party. The DOJ informed the companies that its investigation into the proposed merger would be closed and that the transaction will not be subject to an antitrust challenge.... DMX and Muzak have taken steps that will allow them to move quickly through the sale and integration process, including completion of an analysis of the combined entity. The companies have also engaged an investment banking firm to assist with offering the combined entity to a third-party buyer. The companies will continue to operate independently until a purchase is finalized.Our take:
The first part of that statement made it sound as if an ultimate buyer was already identified (and perhaps may have been the impetus for the deal in the first place), but the second half makes us wonder whether this is really the case. Either way, both Muzak and DMX are very formidable players in the in-store audio space (combined they probably have 70% or more of that industry's market share and a solid 50,000+ client venues). What the new entity gains from the merger aside from possibly being more sale-worthy still remains to be seen, in our non-expert opinion.
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