BUENA PARK, CA - Yamaha Corporation, 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 its Nuendo and Cubase digital audio workstation software. 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 cooperative relationship with the Studio Connections initiative, a joint-development project to seamlessly integrate Yamaha's hardware products with Steinberg's software.
As a result of the agreement, Yamaha will not only acquire all of Steinberg Media Technologies' common stock from Pinnacle Systems, but the company will also acquire Steinberg's US sales business operated by Pinnacle. The total value of the transaction is $28.5M and the acquisition will be effective in late January 2005.
With the acquisition of Steinberg, 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 of the acquisition is to expand the market by making it easier for both general users and professionals alike to create music in a broad variety of genres.